Did Text Messaging While Driving Play a Part in a Fatal Crash?

It made national headlines, five cheerleaders killed in a car crash after going out to celebrate their graduation. But cell phone records show the phone was being used for text messaging right before the accident.

Cell phone records show a text message was sent from the phone belonging to the driver, Bailey Goodman, at 10:05:52. A reply was sent to her phone at 10:06:29. Thirty-eight seconds later, someone called 911 to report the accident that killed Bailey and her friends.

“Cell phone records indicate the phone was in use,” Povero said. “We’ll never be able to clearly state that she was the one doing the text messages.” Source: ABC News

Because there was more than one person in the car, there’s no way to say who was doing the text messaging. We’ve see this before, though, someone killed, though not the driver, because of an accident caused by text messaging while driving. As someone who is connected via email and a PDA phone to his office, I will admit that I have emailed while driving … I will also admit it’s not a smart thing to do, and it should be outlawed nationally, IMHO.