• 23
  • December
    2011

The time-stamp on the text - just one text out of 127 he sent that day - went out at 8:19 pm. Two minutes later, paramedics were called to the scene of an accident caused by texting while driving. And the 17-year-old wasn't just texting. He was speeding and weaving and investigators found marijuana, cocaine and a half-empty bottle of Delsym cough syrup in the car.

The 17-year-old, Luis Cruz-Govin, was given the equivalent of a slap on the wrist - a $2,000 fine, driver's license suspension for half a year, a driving course - in an accident that caused the death of Myriam del Socorro Lopez, a wife and mother of two.

"This case should bring awareness to Florida of the problems that texting while driving have done, and will continue to do. It has to stop. It's a tragic situation that kills," says the personal injury lawyer who represented Lopez's family in her wrongful death case.

As Jon Silman reports for the Miami Herald, a Miami-Dade jury agreed with the lawyer, awarding $8.8 million to her family.

Texting while driving, just one species of distracted driving (which includes talking on a mobile phone, watching videos, fiddling with the radio, etc.), can take your eyes off the road for five seconds or more with each text.

Some studies indicate that texting while driving is similar to drunk driving in terms of the potential for causing a car wreck. Which makes us think: If we're driving, it's time to put the phone down.

Source: Miami Herald, "Miami Dade jury awards $8.8 million to family of woman killed in crash," by Jon Silman, 12/20/11