MSU Basketball Strength Coach Causes Fatal Accident
MSU basketball strength and conditioning coach, Todd Moyer, was allegedly texting and driving, causing him to strike a vehicle from behind and kill a mother and daughter.
The victim was my ex girlfriend's auntie. She was a kind person and loved her daughter more than anything.
http://www.wxyz.com/news/metro-detroit-woman-child-identified-in-deadly…
family-members-of-woman-and-child-killed-in-car-crash-share-their-grief
Texting and driving should be treated like DUIs.
Fuck that guy.
This situation reminds me how important it is to be fully engaged behind the wheel. I don't text and drive, but I have ate fast food or looked up directions on my phone. We should all try to remember that any type of distraction, while driving, endagers lives.
I couldn't find the study link, but I know I've seen research that texting--because people tend to do it in their laps to avoid police detection, and so take their eyes completely off the road--is more dangerous than driving drunk by a wide margin. Even more frightening: "A National Highway Traffic Safety Administration survey found 20% of drivers age 18-20 said texting does not affect their driving, and nearly 30% of drivers ages 21-34 said texting has no impact."
To your second point, I've spent the last six months working on a feature for a national news magazine about the effect smartphones have on teen and tween brains. I will post here when it's published (if before end of OT season), but I can tell you what I've learned has made me a zealot about keeping phones away from kids, including my own, who are 1 and 3. The parts of their brains that regulate emotion and anxiety are just not equipped to handle the type of constant stimuli they receive from their phones, and we're starting to see the effects in surging rates of teen depression and suicide. It's all very scary stuff.
At least with DUIs there's a line you might just barely be over. With texting, there's no mitigation for impaired judgment either.
I take your point to be that if you're driving at .07% BAC in MI, you're legal. If you're .08% BAC in MI, you're drunk. That line is artificial, but needs to be drawn - that stated, I'm more sympathetic to the driver who has an accident at .08% than the one at 1.5% (a/k/a shitfaced). In my life, I err on the side of extreme caution on this issue, both for safety and to be living a good example for my kids.
For all of that, I'm not so sure about there being any mitigation for impaired judgment. DUI / OUIL (DWI) are strictly status offenses, precisely so there is a clear threshold. It takes all the subjectivity out of the process for the PO (although there is some of that in the probable cause piece of the arrest).
To your point, however, TEXTING IS MORE DANGEROUS - PER THE AMA - THAN OUR .08% DRIVER. You wouldn't knowingly drive impaired, so why the hell are people brazenly texting while driving?
is purely a moral argument, not a legal one.
Some driving under the influence might not realize that they are and some might not be making the same decisions they would sober.
"if you're driving at .07% BAC in MI, you're legal."
Not necessarily true.
You can be charged with OWVI (Operating While Visibly Impaired) with a BAC below .08
I believe there was a study done in the UK (sorry, no source) that found texting while driving to be three times more dangerous than DUI (assuming it was .08 BAC). I honk and flip off people when I see them doing it.
Yeah, everyone should be playing with a full deck!
I bet this guy has been driving for like 3 years now and only gotten in like 2 wrecks. He has quick reflexes and a mind like a diamond. Sharp.
I've never texted while driving. 15 years ago I ran a stop sign while talking to my wife on the phone. Haven't done it since. I don't even have my phone where I can see it while I'm driving.
I think there are actually more deaths caused from texting and driving then there are drunk driving. I wish cops did a better job of policing it. Only time I text behind the wheel is when i;m stopped at a light.
Perhaps, and I would love to see the data, but 32% or so (~11,000 people) of the roadway fatalities are caused by someone under the influence of something. If texting and driving do cause more fatalities than Impaired driving, then it is insane how the US could drop those numbers just by simply taking a cab/DD and putting down the phone.
I know this is a texting crash but the DUI comparison is always brought up and I would love to shed some light on the subject because most people are terrible confused about what actually goes into a DUI arrest.
At least in Oregon .08 is strictly a number used for DMV when it comes to the license suspension portion of the process. A person arrested for DUI that blows .07 is still getting arrested for DUI. In Oregon a low blow does not mean you get off free.
Hope that all made some sense. If there is interest, maybe one of these days I will create a DUI info thread and try to clean up some of the misconceptions people have about the process and what it actually means to get a DUI.
in Michigan. .08 is the threshold. You blow .07 and you are not impaired, you are on your way home. .08 and you are headed to jail and your car is impounded. This is rarely an issue, however. Aside from stings, most people that get pulled over for DUI are not pulled over by chance, it is because they are shit-faced and clearly swerving all over the road, crossing the median, etc., and are far over the legal limit. You rarely see blood alcohol levels of less than 1.0 in DUI arrests. Most states now also have a "Super DUI" meaning you have crossed another threshold, typically around 1.6%, and arrests for that kind of DUI carry enhanced penalties.
Texting and driving is an issue for many reasons, primarily because most people have began to demand or expect immediate responses from people, both work and social. An unreturned text or email for a given period of time is seen as "blowing somebody off" or "ignoring" somebody and can have actual real consequences. Any and all information passed by text has taken on a status of "importance" simply by the instantaneous nature of the communications. People feel compelled to respond even when the subject matter is unimportant.
I was rear ended about seven months ago at pretty high speed. The girl never even looked up. I could see it developing in my rear view. The road can be a scary place right now.
"in Michigan. .08 is the threshold. You blow .07 and you are not impaired, you are on your way home. "
False.
If you're .08 pr greater - you're getting charged with OWI (Operating While Intoxicated).
If you're under .08, but the police believe you're impaired - you're getting charged with OWVI (Operating WhileVisibly Impaired)
Unlikely, in fact. If you can pass a roadside sobriety test, which is very likely at .07 if you have built up any tolerance at all (two beers in the past hour), there is no charge. Certainly not a conviction. OWVI is almost always from a plea bargain.
If you pas the roadside sobriety tests - police likely won't believe you're impaired.
If they do believe you're impaired, and you blow .07 - you're probably getting an OWVI.
...and yes, most OWVI are plead down from OWI where the BAC was real close to .08
not really.
In cases where the BAC is less than .08, the roadside sobriety test is the factor that determines whether you can or will be charged with OWVI. A case cannot be brought where "yeah, he blew under the legal limit, and yeah, he passed the only other objective test for impairment, but we still think he is impaired just because we think so." There is no probable cause for the charge except in really, really unusual circumstances.
And no, OWVI is not typically a plea from OWI really close to .08. It is basically the automatic plea offered to first time offenders regardless of what they blow, unless they are near 1.8 or 1.9 and then the auto-offer would be OWI.
I bicycle to work in a large Midwestern City. When I turn or cross an intersection, I have to make eye contact with drivers to make sure they see me. I see multiple drivers texting and not looking up each day. It is extremely dangerous and I think our society needs to hold these drivers accountable just like with DWIs.
I suspect that in the future, we will look back on this era and wonder how we ever tolerated drivers to text -- just like now we look back at the past and wonder how we condoned drinking and driving.
Condolences to your ex's aunt. Shitty situation.
how awful & senseless. my sympathy to your former girlfriend & all those suffering the loss of this woman & child
texting behind the fear is the equivilent of having 4 shots in your system. The text can wait, the call can wait. Don't endanger the rest of the public because you just HAVE to open a snapchat from your boy. Such a tragedy, RIP to the victims.
I have no sympathy for Drunk drivers, text and callers during driving. IT CAN WAIT
Hey no problem! Texting while driving causes distraction and impaired driving, similar to those who are drunk. If a person is texting, they are more likely to follow too closely, not brake in time, and weave into traffic. Texting while driving increases your likelyhood of a crash by 23%, which is equivilent to 4 beers.
This is horrible, sorry for your loss. It is very sad and literally criminal when human life is taken in such tragic circumstances.
Most people can't drive worth a shit when they're not distracted, let alone distracted. Older I get the more I just try to stay away from morons. Like George Carlin said, "Think of how stupid the average person is and then realize 50% are dumber than that."
Terrible news.
DON'T FUCKING TEXT AND DRIVE. I see this shit all the time.
Also, don't be surprised that I did not read your text when I was driving. I'm not looking at that shit while I'm operating that much metal. Call me if you must, but only if you must (and don't take it personally if I don't pick up due to traffic, etc.).
Sorry to all involved for this tragic accident. Obviously especially the victim and her family and friends. But also to the coach who made a mistake none of us should make, but I see people doing constantly - including in high pedestrian traffic areas, 5+ lanes of expressway traffic at high speeds, etc. I can't go into the "fuck this guy" camp*, but can solidly get in the "stop this fucking behavior" camp.
To go a bit further, you can help by ragging on your friends when they text while driving - or if you know that someone texting you while driving. AMA studies have shown this is worse than drunk driving. So tell your friends to knock that shit off.
It pisses me off so much to see people doing this. Must be the pleasure zones in the human brain.
Like MSU coaching and administration have exhibited good judgment as of late.