O-M-G!!!! Remove her license for LIFE!

[Catty1]

I just fired off an email to the ETS (Edmonton Transit). [ETA: THEY DON'T HAVE ANYONE BY THIS NAME DRIVING FOR THEM. I saw "Edmonton" and the "bus" in Busby. DUH!]I don't want her driving on the same road as I am when she drives her car!
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http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/10/01/texting-driver.html

OMG, r u crazy, lady?
Alberta Motor Association warns of danger in sending text messages while driving
Last Updated: Monday, October 1, 2007 | 4:07 PM MT
CBC News

Self-professed "textaholic" driver Holly Busby doesn't seem to get the spoken message from the Alberta Motor Association that sending text messages on her cellphone while in control of a car is an extremely dangerous practice.

"The act of dialling and occupying one hand, which should be on the wheel, is a no-brainer," AMA spokesman Don Szarko said Monday.

"It clearly puts everyone at risk. The whole idea of texting really just increases the risk, and magnifies the risk — 20, 30, 40 times," Szarko said.

But Edmonton driver Busby said nothing stops her from doing it, not even while driving during the height of Edmonton's rush hour.

"I'm infamous for texting at a light, and not realizing it went green, and people honk. And one time I even missed a whole light writing a big long text," she laughed.

A missed light is nothing. The other day, Busby said, she was sending text messages and she barely missed a pedestrian in a marked crosswalk.

"And I thought, like, what if they were a metre closer? It was a little scary," she said.

But it was apparently not scary enough to make her stop. She said it just makes her want to get more skilful at it.

"I'll be able to text better while driving, and be more attentive, which I actually am better [at now] than when I started."

Szarko said he doesn't believe practice will make perfect when it comes to sending text messages while driving. He wants the Holly Busbys of Alberta to know it shouldn't be done at all.

He pointed to a new law in Washington state, where, starting in January, the first law of its kind in North America will explicitly ban people from sending text messages while driving.

The thought of that law makes Busby cringe. She can send text messages safely while driving her standard-shift car, smoking a cigarette and drinking her coffee, she boasted.

She said she's perfected the art of steering with her knees.

[moosmom]

I'm glad she's not in the U.S.!! It amazes me how stupid people can be when operating machinery.

[Freedom]

idiot

[ramanth]

I can't believe she's proud of it. I'm sure the next article will be about her either killing someone or herself.

Idiot.

[Catty1]

Listen, folks - it scares me to think of the ones getting away with it on BOTH country's highways, and no one knows! :eek:

[phesina]

Oh... my.... God.....

She holds up traffic when lights change, she almost hit a pedestrian, and she laughs about it?

Why isn't there a law against this in every province, every state?

Why should there HAVE to be a law against it? Why are some people so stupid and/or selfish that they'd do this?

[Catty1]

Well, God forbid that it takes a charge of vehicular homicide to stop her.

It's like an alcoholic...they get so wrapped up in the thrill of the kill - in this case, obsessed with texting and getting away with it - that they lose all perspective. Only takes one to change a light bulb...they hold it and the world turns around it! :rolleyes:

[Laura's Babies]

and I don't even like answering my phone when I am driving! :eek:

[Hellow]

Serious idiot.

[IRescue452]

And I almost hit a 4 year old on a bike in the road today while watching the road! This lady should not be able to drive.

[Lady's Human]

I can't believe she hasn't been cited and fined under the Canadian distracted driving statutes.

[Catty1]

Well, LH, now that she is national news - anything can happen!

There's a confession in print and on tape somewhere! :)

Ummm....I didn't know we HAD distracted driving statutes up here. Hitting STATUES when we're distracted, maybe... :p but really, that's a new one on me. Do you know if they are federal?

[Lady's Human]

Oops, thought I put the link in the reply....

http://www.caa.ca/driventodistraction/what/distracted.html

[Catty1]

Okay, it differs by province...makes sense.

However, I don't think cell phones are OUTLAWED yet...and they'd have to be written into the statutes.

They are pretty darn close, though.


Further, motorists in Alberta are not permitted to drive with a person, animal or thing occupying the front seat of the vehicle that impedes the drivers' access and use of the steering wheel, brakes and other equipment necessary to operate the vehicle safely.

Unfortunately, a cell phone does not yet 'occupy the front seat of the vehicle'. This one will have to be rewritten for sure!

[Lady's Human]

I think this part of the extract would pretty much cover cell phones, and at the same time allow those who can use them safely to continue to do so:


prohibits drivers who operate vehicles without due care and attention, or without reasonable consideration for persons using the highway.

[Catty1]

The debate here right now is whether they CAN be used safely in cars.

When pulled over and stopped - yes.

While driving - no. Even with hands-free.

That seems to be the general consensus so far.

[krazyaboutkatz]

I saw an episode of "Dr. Phil" and it was about a teenager who sends text messages while driving and she's already had several accidents.:eek: She also drives a stick shift so she has to shift while she's texting. Her mom said that she tried taking her cell phone away from her but then her daughter became ill so she felt sorry for her and let her have it back. She needs to have her car taken away from her before she kills someone.:mad:

Dr. Phil said that this is becoming the new craze in teenagers so this means that there are many of these texters now on the road. I don't even like it when people are talking on their cell phones while driving. I still see this daily and I thought that a new law had been passed that made this illegal. I'm still one of the few people that don't even own a cell phone.

[Catty1]

That mom should have signed her daughter into a hospital for a psych check. ILL without one's CELL PHONE? :eek:

That needs professional checking out! JMO

[elizabethann]

This is like my boss...she text's EVERYWHERE! I will pay someone to steal her cell phone!

[lvpets2002]

and I don't even like answering my phone when I am driving! :eek:

Not Only do I not like answering my phone while driving = Is I cant do both at the same time && I am the first to admitt it.. They need to lock this lady up & throw away the key somewhere..

[phesina]

I think mom needs to sign herself into the hospital for a psych check too! She "tried taking her cell phone away from her but then her daughter became ill so she felt sorry for her and let her have it back" ???


That mom should have signed her daughter into a hospital for a psych check. ILL without one's CELL PHONE? :eek:

That needs professional checking out! JMO

[lady_zana]

That mom should have signed her daughter into a hospital for a psych check. ILL without one's CELL PHONE? :eek:

That needs professional checking out! JMO

I agree with you. I have OCD and I got "stuck" on Kingdom Hearts II. When I tried to take the game away from myself, I literally got sick and would shake. It was miserable.

So, it could be that being without the cell phone made her daughter ill...but if it did, giving the cellphone back wasn't the answer.

She needs to go to a doctor and get help - find out if she has OCD or some other disorder....if she does, then she can get the help she needs. If she doesn't have a true mental illness....take the phone away and ground her - she's just being selfish.

[davidpizzica]

I can't stand people with cell phones stuck to their ears while driving. Ihave a magnetic sign on the back of my car that says "hang up and drive!" I not sure, but I have the feeling that the guy who broadsided me by running the red light was gabbing on a cell phone when he hit me.