The SUV burst into flames. All of the girls were killed on impact. Speed, alcohol and drugs were not suspected factors. What the police do suspect, however, is that Ms. Goodman was text messaging. The phone records clearly show text messages being sent when the crash occurred. Although the police admit they will never be able to unequivocally state that Ms. Goodman was the one doing the text messaging, they are calling phone use “a contributing factor.”

 

Reports of this tragedy cited other, recent, “driving-while-texting” horror stories: a school bus driver reportedly driving while texting lost control of the bus. In the ensuing accident, 30 children were injured, one of whom lost her hand.

 

An April 2006 US study concluded that up to 80 percent of crashes, and 65 percent of near crashes, may be caused by distractions - anything from putting on makeup to writing and eating. A “driving- while-texting” driver with both hands and eyes not on the wheel and road ahead respectively is about as distracted as a driver can get. And yet in a 2006 study from Liberty Mutual Research Institute for Safety, teens reportedly said that texting was their “No. 1 driving distraction.”

 

Sergeant Cam Woolley, of the Ontario Provincial Police Highway Safety Division which processes about 22,000 traffic accidents a year in the Greater Toronto Area, says that his division is seeing more collisions involving younger drivers using wireless devices. "They're brought up on text messaging and they don't recognize the risks as much," Sgt. Woolley said. "There is the perception that they can multitask safely when they can't. Combine the overconfidence with inexperience…and it kind of spells disaster."

 

That said, a University of Toronto professor of medicine, Donald Redelmeier, also points out that motorists of all ages are guilty of overestimating their driving skills and underestimating the risks of using a wireless device. In 1997 Professor Redelmeier conducted a pioneering study of the relationship between cell phones and driving which found that motorists were four times more likely to have an accident when using a cell phone. He equated driving-while-phoning to driving with a blood-alcohol level at the legal limit.

 

In the United States, several states have banned the use of handheld cellphones while driving. In Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador have laws that restrict this activity. All Canadian provinces have general laws against distracted driving (not specific to cell phones). The traditional “catch-all” is “driving without due care and attention”, which has been around since the Model T Ford, but should work just fine in dealing with “driving while texting”.