Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Distracted driver criminally indicted for negligent homicide

From: Marcel <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 13 Feb 2003 00:57:04 -0500

Distracted driver criminally indicted for negligent homicide

Feb. 12, 2003

WASHINGTON

A Texas man who publicly blamed cell phone use for distracting his
driving has been indicted by a grand jury on charges of criminally
negligent homicide in connection with an auto accident last year
that killed two people.

In a full-page ad in the Corpus Christi Caller Times on Jan. 26,
Region Salinas admitted that talking on his cell phone while
driving caused the collision that killed two members of a Brooks
County family on Jan. 11, 2002. The admission was part of a
settlement in a lawsuit filed by the victims' family against the
driver and the L.O. Construction Inc. firm that employed Salinas.
The Caller Times first reported the indictment last Friday.

District Attorney Carlos Valdez told RCR Wireless News that the
Texas Department of Safety last year referred the case to his
office, which decided not to pursue it after concluding it was an
accident. All that changed, Valdez said, after reading the
newspaper ad late last month.

"He went far beyond an apology. He admitted guilt," said Valdez.

Salinas, set to be arraigned before the case goes to trial, stated
in the ad, "I allowed myself to be distracted and I didn't give my
driving all the attention it deserved." In addition, according to
the Caller Times, Salinas ad urged drivers to either use
hands-free headsets or pull the car to the side of the road to
make a call.

In a high-profile case three years ago, a 19-year-old Maryland man
was acquitted of vehicular manslaughter charges and instead fined
$500 for negligent driving for talking on his cell phone when he
rammed into the back of a car parked on the shoulder of the road,
killing a New York couple. At that time, the matter was closely
watched by industry and lawyers after being billed as the first
criminal case involving cell-phone distracted driving.

On a related front, the California Highway Patrol is expected
shortly to release a report that, according to published reports,
will target cell phones as the No. 1 cause of traffic accidents
attributable to distraction. The report, according to CHP
spokesman Steve Kohler, will provide ammunition for Assemblyman
Joe Simitian (D-Palo Alto) and his bill requiring use hands-free
headsets while driving.

The wireless industry has taken the stance that education is the
key to solving the problem of cell phone use while driving, and it
points to studies that identify other driver distractions as being
more prevalent than phones. Some studies conclude headsets do
little to improve drivers' concentration.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is conducting
studies on driver distraction. Meanwhile, the National
Transportation Safety Board this spring will report on an
investigation of traffic accidents involving deaths and cell phone
use by drivers.

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=7094

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