PA Woman Campaigns Against Texting While Driving

Even though Pennsylvania just enacted its anti-texting law, Jacy Good won’t stop spreading the word that texting and driving is a deadly combination.  The Pennsylvania woman knows firsthand the devastation a distracted driver can cause.  She is using her personal tragedy to urge Americans to put down their phones when driving.

Jacy and her parents were driving home after Jacy’s graduation ceremony at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA in May 2008, when an 18-year-old driver who was talking on his cellphone ran a red light, according to an article in the Reading Eagle.  A tractor trailer had to swerve to avoid the teen, but then slammed head-on into Good’s car.  Jacy’s parents both died instantly.  Jacy ended up in the hospital with just a 10 percent chance of surviving. Jacy did survive, and she wants to make sure no one else suffers the way she has. […]

Four Elderly Women in Fatal PA Car Crash

Four elderly women in car crash on the way to garden club meeting, two killed, two seriously injured

Two Women Die, Two Injured in PA Car Accident
WETM-TV reports four elderly women traveling in a Buick Century were on the way to their monthly “Garden Club” meeting at a nearby Perkins restaurant Thursday around noon when they were in a tragic car accident.  The women were at the intersection of Rt. 6 and Dorset Heights in Mansfield when their car collided with an F-250 Ford pickup truck.  Two of the women, aged 81- and 89-years old both died in the accident. The two others were seriously injured and were airlifted to the local hospital. The driver of the pickup truck was not injured. Police are continuing to investigate the cause of the accident.

Motorcyclist Dies in Accident in FL
A 77-year-old Florida woman has been charged with DUI manslaughter, […]

Pennsylvania Makes it Illegal to Text While Driving

You better think twice before texting when behind the wheel in Pennsylvania or you will be ticketed.  It is now a primary offense for texting while driving, thanks to the new anti-texting law that took effect on March 8.

The provisions of the law, according to a press release by the Pennsylvania State Police, are as follows:

• It is a primary offense to use an Interactive Wireless Communication Device (IWCD) to send, read or write a text-based message.
• Violators will be fined $50 for convictions.
• This law supersedes and preempts any local ordinances restricting the use of interactive wireless devices by drivers.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, distracted driving is to blame for 3,092 fatalities in 2010. In Pennsylvania, there were nearly 14,000 automobile accidents where distracted driving played a role, with 68 people dying in the accidents. […]

Pennsylvania Graduated License Program Aimed at Saving Teen Lives

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports automobile accidents are the number one cause of death for teens. Last month we urged teenagers in Pennsylvania to focus on driving carefully and following the laws when taking to the local highways to help prevent other teens from becoming a statistic.  Last Thursday, the USA Today, also hoping to get the message out that teen drivers are at risk on America’s highways, published a special report entitled “Making Teen Driving Safer.”

Although the USA Today points out that nationwide deaths for 16- and 17-year-old drivers declined between 2007 and 2010, the special report hones in on the fact that every day, an average of 11 teenagers die in car crashes in the United States.  The teen driving section is, in part, sponsored by Allstate Insurance that is sponsoring the “Save11” campaign to encourage Congress to pass the STANDUP Act. […]

Car Accident Round-Up – Deadly Crashes Around the U.S.

Fatal car accidents around the US remind us to wear a seatbelt

Seven Family Members Injured, One Dies in Hit-and-Run Rollover Accident
An SUV carrying a family of nine traveling on I-80 near Cheyenne, Wyoming, was rear-ended by another vehicle resulting in a rollover accident.  Upon impact, the SUV went off the road and rolled over.  All of the occupants of the SUV were ejected, except the driver.  A six-year-old died in the crash and seven others were injured. The driver of the other vehicle fled the scene, but was apprehended later. The accident occurred around 3:30 a.m. Friday morning as the family traveled from Chicago, IL to California.

Two Die in I-95 Accident in FL
The Florida News Journal reports two men are dead after an accident on I-95 in Palm Bay, Florida.  The men were traveling near mile marker 168 in a Volkswagen Jetta when their vehicle rear-ended another car.  […]