The Last Text

[pdub]

This was news today. I can't believe nobody else hasn't already posted this one:

http://www.9news.com/news/article/329758/339/Parents-hope-sons-last-text-saves-lives?odyssey=tab|topnews|bc|large

[Barry Donovan]

very sad.

I am getting older, still don't text. I get mad at the size of the numbers, let alone texting.

I just finished a dimmer/illum light on a large buttoned radio. the fix? the buttons are big enough not to light at all at night, and just find them easy.

this stuff has all been well thought out for years..

driving and concentration in the right place.
the midget invasion has got to end.

[38P]

I can't believe nobody else hasn't already posted this one

Too busy texting . . . .

[pdub]

Too busy texting . . . .

There are people in this world who think they can multi-task and others who actually can. The ones who can, like Dan Stokes has said, are fighter pilots.

[38P]

I doubt that even fighter pilots do something as tedious as texting on a tiny phone while they're flying VFR in close quarters.

Of course if parents didn't subsidize these "smart phones" . . . .

[pdub]

subsidize

I know I'm an antique, but when I was a kid we played with marbles. And sticks. Actually drew a circle in the dirt with a stick (tree limb) to shoot marbles. And it was cut-throat. If somebody knocked your marble out of the circle, you lost that marble. They went home with it in their bag full of marbles.

Dang. Gambling, I guess. At an early age.

[Schtauffer]

I know I'm an antique, but when I was a kid we played with marbles. And sticks. Actually drew a circle in the dirt with a stick (tree limb) to shoot marbles. And it was cut-throat. If somebody knocked your marble out of the circle, you lost that marble. They went home with it in their bag full of marbles.

Dang. Gambling, I guess. At an early age.

And you even had the sense to not shoot marbles and drive.

[Monk]

A teachable moment......someones son died.
I'd leave it at that......not using it as internet discussion.

[DanStokes]

Just heartbreaking. Perhaps the saddest thing is that among young folks it's become the cultural norm and those who don't are considered "weird". And PW - even fighter pilots (and attack helicopter pilots) can't TEXT and drive - no one can do that successfully. Sometimes folks get away with it for awhile but sooner or later...... let's say that the odds are against you.

I hope the parents of this young man can get the message out.

Dan

[Dan Barlow]

Really, do we have to do this every 6 months. Someone crashed there car and died. It's heartbreaking but if it had of been him picking up the fries he dropped we wouldn't be talking about it. Nobody would care.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm heartless, remember that as you read the rest of this post.

I think the idea that somehow memorializing a criminal by posting his last text is wrong on every level. I couldn't care less that the parents are trying to find some good in the death of their criminal child. Collecting money to fund a project memorizing this criminal is beyond immoral.

The only way to keep people from texting and driving is to make one who does such things a societal pariah. The way we start is prevent people from somehow blaming the phone, rather than that criminal who used it. The next step is to call them according to the criminal they are. Don't want to be a criminal? don't text and drive.

[38P]

I get tired of the "survivors" trying to turn the accidental (or even intentional) death of a loved one into some sort of "cause." Perhaps it's the "John Walsh" effect . . . or some sort of coping strategy . . . or just a sick variation of the natural human tendency to seek that "fifteen minutes of fame."

But people taking unreasonable risks die and sometimes kill others. Turning each death into a "cause" doesn't change that.

[Loren]

Well, drunk driving used to get winked at, and resulting deaths and injuries tolerated, until someone took it as a cause.

Texting drivers are a daily hazard to anyone who has to share the road with them. A couple weeks ago a gal in front of us literally drove partly off the side of the road while she was texting away, if she'd hit the hillside and rolled back onto the highway, we'd have all been in an accident. She saved it, got back into the middle of her lane again, and continued texting. Just a typical story, I'm sure we could tell them all day, but people like her make the roadways at any time of day more dangerous than on New Year's Eve, they are criminals and it will take the others who share the road to stop them. Anyone who thinks they can handle such distraction and maintain full awareness is naive or just deluded.

As far as the dead kid's story, what else can you do with that situation? They lost their son, they're angry about it and presenting the evidence to the world to try to make an impact on people.

I'm for it.

[PatricksDad]

We all make decisions daily that affect the lives of others, sometimes with tragic consequences. And, regardless of fault, this kind of thing is a tragedy. LOTS of knucklehead teenager behaviors have carried a possible death penalty. I'd challenge most everyone on this board to deny that something you've done in the past couldn't have ended, or maybe even did end up, with horrible results.

If telling the story of this tragedy helps the survivors keep going, and maybe even prevents a few kids from making bad decisions, I'm all for it.

[pdub]

If telling the story of this tragedy helps the survivors keep going, and maybe even prevents a few kids from making bad decisions, I'm all for it.

I have to agree PD. It has to be why the departed kid's parents wanted to go viral with the photo of that phone.

And I agree more that it's a miracle that any of us survived past kidhood, no matter what year it was. The thing is, these days kids have a lot more sophisticated tools for fun.