Text driver jailed for bike death

A woman who sent a text message on her mobile phone whilst driving, and killed a cyclist because she wasn't concentrating, has been jailed for four years. Seeing as she will be out in two, a couple of years in prison may act as a salutory lesson for her and a warning to others.

Every morning that I walk my two young children to school here in Solihull, I regularly see motorists driving whilst using handheld phones. Today was no exception. For some, it is a total disregard of the law. Yesterday, as I glanced a woman she tried to put the phone to her chin, as if she had an itch! The arrogance is overwhelming, the lack of personal integrity is extremely sad. It just goes to show we live in a selfish society.

The most common perpetrators are those going to the local Mercedes dealership, white van drivers, and men in executive cars! So a well-paid job and a well-suited executive is no bar to law-breaking. As Hampshire Police have stated, "It's pretty routine nowadays at the scene of these serious or fatal accidents to seize drivers' mobile phones, and to have them analysed to see if the phone has had anything to do with the driving standards involved. In this particular incident, it transpired from a phone analysis that there was phone use close to the time of the incident." WARNING?

The fact that this behaviour is known to cause death should be reason enough to stop the practice. I hope Kiera Coultas, the woman in question, will ponder her actions and come out a better person.

Posted in: cell phones,Hampshire Police,mobile phones,road safety