North Carolina Car Accident Disaster: Teen Driver’s Texting Leads To High School Tragedy
Two weeks ago, a horrific North Carolina car accident struck Columbus County, NC – 16-year-old Taylor Clark was arrested in connection to the death of her classmate, 17-year-old Seth Beaver. The text messaging related accident happened at the intersection of Fertilizer Plant Road and Old Highway 87. According to a WECT report, “troopers say Clark was charged with misdemeanor of death by motor vehicle, failing to yield, and texting while driving. Texting while driving became illegal in North Carolina at December 1, 2009. The law says the vehicle must be in park before you send a text message.”
Studies overseen by Virginia Tech, the University of Utah, and the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration all pretty conclusively show that driving while text messaging greatly increases the likelihood of your getting into a serious if not fatal accident. Indeed, some studies suggest that driving while texting can be even more dangerous than driving under the influence of alcohol and narcotics… believe it or not.
The scientific literature provides powerful suggestive evidence that “driver distraction” increases the likelihood of accidents. These dangerous distractions can include rubbernecking, listening to the radio, chatting on the cell phone (even on a handsfree headset!), fatigue, and even eating and drinking while driving.
That said, while distracted driving (texting in particular) is clearly a problem, what’s the appropriate policy remedy? How can we prevent tragedies like the one that befell Seth Beaver from tearing apart communities like Columbus County?
We need probing and objective analyses to understand our options.
In the face of all the evidence damning texting-while-driving, many states – including North Carolina – have adopted out and out bans of text messaging while driving. This policy prescription obviously makes good sense on surface. The reasoning is: if text messaging increases risk, then just ban text messaging, and you will reduce risk.
But studies last year revealed that this policy may not be delivering results. What’s going wrong? Perhaps people are just flouting the law. Or maybe the policy prescription (amazingly!) is not appropriate.
Perhaps a better solution might be a campaign to make the dangers of texting while driving more salient and emotionally “real” to drivers. For instance, what if young drivers in order to renew their licenses had to watch films about the dangers of texting while driving? This could alter the “culture” of texting while driving among teens — and it is this cultural behavior that likely contributes to a variety of North Carolina car accident injuries.
If you got hurt or injured in a motor vehicle crash recently, a North Carolina car accident law firm can provide critical advice to help you get compensation and to hold liable parties accountable.
More Web Resources:
Taylor Clark Seth Beaver crash
North Carolina’s ban on texting while driving
