Driving without a licence & texting while driving, then leaving the scene of the crime? This guy deserves everything he gets.

No license, "thought he hit a mailbox" and just continues to work? How do you NOT at least LOOK in your rear view to see what tragedy you just caused?

I wonder what was so terribly important in that text message to not pay attention to the road...

So, after banning "driving while on the cell phone", next legislators will specifically target text-messaging whilst driving. After that, typing on a laptop whilst driving (unless one is a law enforcement officer). Then...listening to the radio which leads to inattention to one's driving?

Obviously, yes, this is a gripe much more about cell phone-driving laws. I don't have a cell phone, don't want one, and would not drive while using one, but I know people who drive quite well while talking on the cell phone, listening to the radio, and eating a burrito...and others who are doing well to drive without an accident with -no- distractions. I do, however, think that the strong media attention drawn to such accidents caused by idiots will, almost inevitably, lead to persecution of the action the idiot could not safely handle, rather than idiocy...which is already quite well-covered by the law.

I should be able to type on my laptop or txt while driving? Because making individual laws to cover all possibilities is a bad idea? I mean, if you know how to look at your phone so you can chose the right word in your dictionary and type one handed while still looking forward at the road (some kind of lazy eye) and keep concentration not only on the car in front, car behind and the cars beside, but your phone and the message you are trying to convey through buttons that you push and the number you select.. then that would make you the only person in the world.

there is no law stopping people from driving and talking on the phone with a HANDS free kit, so their concentration is no more split when on the phone, then talking to the passenger next to them. But if you have to start finding people in phone books in their tiny lcd phone, then chose whether to call his work home or mobile, and then a voice, or video call, this can be several seconds that people will look away from the road.

Does this not scare you? that people are looking away from the roads, when in a second they can easily travel 30-40 meters? I mean thats enough for a corner to come, mount a footpath which is only about a metre wide, and then plough well and truely into just about anything.

Calling these laws stupid is the height of ignorance and arrogance. Just because you think you are better then everyone because you dont need to look at the road to drive, is the stupidest statement ever.

Most modern cars come with Bluetooth equiped sounsystems that allow your phone to sync, and if you are SMART in the true sense of the word, you would set up voice recognition in your phone so you can just yell "CALL JESUS" and your phone would ring. The soundsystem will be your microphone and your speakers, allowing you a conversation without ever taking your eyes off the road, and you to be like i said, no more distracted then talking to a passenger.

BTW i refer to laws as they stand in australia which i ignorantly assume can't be much different to america.

...Was this 13 year old kid riding his bike at 12:30 at night? I mean...jeez.

I could have sworn this article said he was riding his bike... now it says he was walking along the side of the road. Hmmm...

Good point, what the heck is a 13yr old boy doing out at 12:30am?

WITH out a lisence too! its crazy he killed a kid he deserves WAY worse WAY!

he deserves way worse than 5,000 bail how evr came up with the ide to let him get awya with it muct not know how i t is to loose someone close to you who hasnt evan had hte chanse to live their life out yet? he ment so much to people and was a part of hteir life it just happens too much down hear and it needs to be stoped they think crackin down on drugs vandolism how about LIFES? being saved crack down on the killers!

Why does it matter if the kid was out at 12:30am? That point is moot. The point is that Bigos hit a kid and ran from the scene. The kid could have been smoking pot while breaking whatever other law and it doesn't really matter.

Other countries have long ago forbidden cellphone use in the car, unless you are using a headset.
And usually with those laws you are not even allowed to press ONE button one your teenyweeny cell phone, which makes sense, since that exactly is the reason for you to loose your attention.
In Germany, I was told, you even have to wear the headset already before you start the car. Putting it on when the phone rings, is just as illegal as talking on the phone itself.

Also, the onle reason, why there are comparably less cellphone driver accidents wihout a law, is the fact that most of our cars here in the US are automatic.
If you are driving a stick shift, you are lacking one hand. That by the way counts also for eating or typing in the car.

For the guy who equates texting with listening to the radio, yeah sure, if you're manually setting the frequency THEN it's like texting.. other than that it's no comparison, I mean there are even signs on the road that RECOMMEND you listen to certain stations for traffic information etc.

Stop being an apologist for texters.

1. The guy should spend 20 or more years in jail.
2. You don't need to look at a cell phone to text. It is called blind typing.

RE: StudyMaster

I don't think that an automatic transition give you an advantage. The stick shift gives you far more control. Other than people missing arms or legs, if you can't drive a standard, you don't need to drive.

His friend was walking along the side of the road; the victim was riding his bike; they were two kids.

It's probably it's because he turned himself in that the charges are so light; if they had to track him down they probably would've been harder on him

Whats funy is the city has a cerfew law, had the kid not been killed he would have been arrested for cerfew violation, and everyone would be saying how awesome it is we have laws stopping these idiot kids from being out at night.

I personal believe that using a cell phone while you are operating a vehicle should be illegal. I have almost been side-swiped, almost head-on collision, almost rammed, because some dumb as$$ had to talk on their phone. I own a phone and I do not answer or use the phone while I am driving. Put a gun to this guys head and pull the trigger. He to stupid to live and his stupidity has killed someone.

The article clearly says: "...police are trying to determine if he was text messaging on his cellphone just before the crash."; they don't know if he was on his phone or not, so you really can't blame this on phones yet.

The kids should have been home at 12:30 AM. Period. At that time of the night, the streets are dark, the drunks are starting to bounce their cars between the yellow stripes finding their way home, and kids unfamiliar with this process of natural selection fall prey to Darwinism. Kid's also tend to make themselves familiar with other people property at these times of the night. I'm not saying that these kids were out to steal a few good gifts, but they certainly weren't selling cookies or delivering news papers. Parents are the children's best defense against this sort of stupidity, which is why these kids should have been home and not roaming around the streets at this hour. Most certainly the child didn't deserve and early demise, but situation could have been avoided by smart parenting.

The problem with common sense, is that it's not so common.

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