Don't drink and drive + don't text and drive

[cassiesmom]

I heard about this on the news on my way to work. What is wrong with this picture? DUI AND texting while driving AND kids in the car. GRRRR!! I heard another blurb on the radio, the people with these unlocking devices get around them by having some one else blow into it, then it unlocks and they operate the vehicle.

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DUI arrest finds 4 kids in car

By Lawerence Synett, Tribune reporter

A Lake in the Hills man was stopped after police saw him speeding and driving erratically on Route 14 in Crystal Lake and found he had been texting and was drunk — with four children in his vehicle, authorities said.

The driver was charged with four counts of endangering the life of a child, driving under the influence, driving with a suspended license, improper lane usage, speeding and using an electronic communication device while driving.

The driving on a suspended license charge was upgraded to a Class 4 felony after police determined the driver had been arrested previously for DUI and had been issued a Monitoring Device Driving Permit, which only allows him to drive a vehicle equipped with a Breath Alcohol Ignition Interlock Device.

The device is monitored every 60 days by the Secretary of State, and a person must blow into the device at a blood alcohol level below .05 to be able to unlock the ignition and drive.

The children in the vehicle were all either 11 or 12.

The driver was released from jail this morning after posting 10 percent of his $165,000 bond.

[Freedom]

GAH! I really do NOT need to be on the road with these nuts.

[Taz_Zoee]

OMG! I don't think there is one violation he wasn't cited for.
He probably had one of the kids blow in the device.
Thank god he didn't crash and hurt anyone. Idiot!!!

[RICHARD]

There was a story about a cop who was on his personal phone, texting on the computer inside his cruiser and buggin along at 126 MPH-going to a call.

He lost control of the car, jumped the median and tore the roof off of a car headed in the opposite lanes

The car had two women inside, 13 and 18.

The women were killed and the cop survived, quit the force after he pleaded guilty to reckless driving during his trial-he collected 2 years of 'suspended pay" in the mean time.

At the civil trialhe pled not guilty and is now set to get worker's comp because the accident happened while he was on duty.

[phesina]

WHAT on earth gives all these idiots the idea, to begin with, that texting while driving is the slightest bit okay?????.....

Let alone when you're half in the bag.....

Let alone when you have KIDS in the car...

????????????!!!!!!!!

[moosmom]

Texting kids(Or anyone else for that matter) behind the wheel who are immature to begin with at 16 scares the crap outta me.

[cassiesmom]

I was driving to work this morning behind a car with a license plate from another state. The car was in the left lane and going about 5 mph slower than the speed limit. I changed lanes and as I passed the car I realized the driver was on the phone. I wondered if he might be lost because he was going a little slow and also on the telephone. In the "fast" lane is a difficult spot to be getting directions via cell phone, though.

[Asiel]

We had a law passed last year that makes it illegal to use a cell or any phone while driving. Heavy fine and if caught a second time you lose your licence and are fined. From what I've witnessed it's cut down a lot on people using phones while driving. You see cars parked on the side of the road if they want to use their cell...that was a law that had to come considering the accidents using phones while driving was causing.

[Marigold2]

With cars now having more do-dads phones built in, TV build in, parking itself the list goes on it is not so much driving any more as socializing.
I mean really while the car is parking itself you can talk on the phone, let the GPS tell you where your next stop is and watch a movie at the same time.
Car manufactors are partly to blame but in reality they are just giving the nut jobs what they want in a car, too dumb to park it yourself no problem we will do it for you. Duh........

[moosmom]

They're trying to make vehicles "homes on wheels". Not a good idea. WAY too many distractions.

We also have a law in CT that, you drive distracted (and they're really cracking down) you get a ticket, with a heavy fine.

[Cataholic]

We had a law passed last year that makes it illegal to use a cell or any phone while driving. Heavy fine and if caught a second time you lose your licence and are fined. From what I've witnessed it's cut down a lot on people using phones while driving. You see cars parked on the side of the road if they want to use their cell...that was a law that had to come considering the accidents using phones while driving was causing.

There are laws on the books already to deal with distracted type of driving offenses. The officers should enforce what is already there. Doesn't matter if it is the phone, the radio, the child in the backseat, poor driving, etc., enforce the laws already there.

As to the pulling over part...maybe cause it is so recent and such a horrific accident, but, just this week, our major interstate was shut down. Someone had pulled over/off the road (they think the car was disabled), and was sitting in the car. Along came an idiot (in his 50s, no less) travelling 100 plus mph, and decided to pass on the berm. Well, of course, he struck the back of this vehicle, killing the driver, and I can only hope instantly.

I am not a fan of people pulling over- unless it is completely off the highway/busy road onto another side street. Way too dangerous.

[Laura's Babies]

You see cars parked on the side of the road if they want to use their cell...

I saw a thing on TV where people pulling over off the road to use their phone is in itself another danger they have to deal with. That also is causing accidents. I just don't think ANY phone call or text is so important that it should cost someone their life or the life of someone else.

My gosh, we use to only have the phone at home or work and we managed and didn't feel deprived. WHAT can be THAT important?!!!!

[Asiel]

There are laws on the books already to deal with distracted type of driving offenses. The officers should enforce what is already there. Doesn't matter if it is the phone, the radio, the child in the backseat, poor driving, etc., enforce the laws already there.

As to the pulling over part...maybe cause it is so recent and such a horrific accident, but, just this week, our major interstate was shut down. Someone had pulled over/off the road (they think the car was disabled), and was sitting in the car. Along came an idiot (in his 50s, no less) travelling 100 plus mph, and decided to pass on the berm. Well, of course, he struck the back of this vehicle, killing the driver, and I can only hope instantly.

I am not a fan of people pulling over- unless it is completely off the highway/busy road onto another side street. Way too dangerous.

Believe me our police officers enforce this law beyond measures...I for one would not want to be caught texting, phoning etc while driving.
I should have explained about pulling over to the side of the road if you need to use your cell....absolutely right about it causing severe accidents. No stopping anywhere along a highway...those that do pull over do so only on side roads or along country roads with double shoulders, these are the only places we are permitted to pull over, otherwise we pull over in a gas station lot, fast food, or mall parking lot etc. Along highways is a strict no no and I do agree with that. I've had to use my cell only once while on the way to work and it was for a real emergency and I pulled ino a church yard which was empty. I never use my cell while driving nor do I ever answer it.

[Catlady711]

I just don't think ANY phone call or text is so important that it should cost someone their life or the life of someone else.

My gosh, we use to only have the phone at home or work and we managed and didn't feel deprived. WHAT can be THAT important?!!!!

Reminds me of an email I got earlier this week. lol


When I was a kid, adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were. When they were growing up; what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning…. Uphill… Barefoot…BOTH ways… yadda, yadda, yadda

And I remember promising myself that when I grew up, there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on my kids about how hard I had it and how easy they’ve got it!

But now that I’m over the ripe old age of thirty, I can’t help but look around and notice the youth of today. You’ve got it so easy! I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a Utopia! And I hate to say it, but you kids today, you don’t know how good you’ve got it!

I mean, when I was a kid we didn’t have the Internet. If we wanted to know something, we had to go to the library and look it up ourselves, in the card catalog!!

There was no email!! We had to actually write somebody a letter – with a pen! Then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox, and it would take like a week to get there! Stamps were 15 cents!

There were no MP3′s or Napsters or iTunes! If you wanted to steal music, you had to hitchhike to the record store and shoplift it yourself! Or you had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio, and the DJ would usually talk over the beginning and mess it all up!

We didn’t have fancy crap like Call Waiting! If you were on the phone and somebody else called, they got a busy signal, that’s it!

There weren’t any freaking cell phones either. If you left the house, you just didn’t make a call or receive one. You actually had to be out of touch with your “friends”. OH MY!!! Think of the horror… not being in touch with someone 24/7!!! And then there’s TEXTING. Yeah, right. Please!

And we didn’t have fancy Caller ID either! When the phone rang, you had no idea who it was! It could be your school, your parents, your boss, your bookie, your drug dealer, the collection agent… you just didn’t know!!! You had to pick it up and take your chances, mister!

We didn’t have any fancy PlayStation or Xbox video games with high-resolution 3-D graphics! We had the Atari 2600! With games like ‘Space Invaders’ and ‘Asteroids’. Your screen guy was a little square! You actually had to use your imagination!!! And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen… Forever! And you could never win. The game just kept getting harder and harder and faster and faster until you just died!

You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on! You were screwed when it came to channel surfing! You had to get off your butt and walk over to the TV to change the channel!!! NO REMOTES!!! Oh, no, what’s the world coming to?!?!

There was no Cartoon Network either! You could only get cartoons on Saturday Morning. Do you hear what I’m saying? We had to wait ALL WEEK for cartoons!

And we didn’t have microwaves. If we wanted to heat something up, we had to use the stove! Imagine that!

And our parents told us to stay outside and play… all day long. Oh, no, no electronics to soothe and comfort. And if you came back inside… you were doing chores!

See! That’s exactly what I’m talking about! You kids today have got it too easy. You’re spoiled rotten! You guys wouldn’t have lasted five minutes back in 1980 or any time before!

[kitten645]

There is a law in CA about cell phone use in a car. I see NO difference. When someone is driving like an idiot it is almost ALWAYS they are on a phone. Makes me bonkers! I have an idiotphone...not a Smartphone. I use it to tell someone I'm lost or running late. I don't take pics with it or have itunes on it or do anything but make a call I HAVE to make. The option of pulling over to a payphone isn't one anymore. If my cell rings, it's not a call to subscribe to a newspaper. It's someone I know. And they need to talk to me.
It's a lifeline. Not a personal convenience. I learned in high school driving classes that if you pull over on a highway, you are more likely to be hit. The lights on your car confuse a drunk driver and even a tired one might veer toward you. Life was fine before all this gadgetries.