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It was about 2:00am when a male driver in his 20's was driving east on Madison Avenue, but was more focused on the burrito he was eating than on the road, and ended up veering into the median, rolling several times, and finally coming to rest in the eastbound lanes of the road. The man was tranported to the hospital, though his injuries were described as minor. Investigators also believe that the man was going over the speed limit when he crashed.
23-year-old Mitzi Nelson received an unusual sentence on Wednesday, June 3 for her part in a crash that killed 35-year-old bicyclist Jilly Byelich last year in DeWitt, which is north of Lansing. Police say Nelson was distracted by her phone when she struck Byelich, and a judge has barred from using any portable communication device for two years. The judge ruled that Nelson must speak to new drivers about the dangers of distracted driving. She will also spend six months in jail, with the final 90 days deferred depending on her progress.
Alabama Department of Public Safety officials say a Theodore woman has died in a three-car crash on Alabama 217.
Sgt. Steve Jarrett says 24-year-old Miranda Hamilton was killed when the pickup truck she was driving was hit by a Dodge Ram and overturned near Semmes.
Authorities say Hamilton wasn't wearing a seatbelt at the time of the crash, and the accident is under investigation.
Semmes is about 15 miles northwest of Mobile.
Washington State's laws on distracted driving - more than the cost of the fine
Many auto accidents in Bellingham, Washington and Whatcom County happen because of distracted driving. Distracted driving is not limited to actively texting or using an electronic device, but includes talking on a phone, or any activity that takes a driver’s attention from the act of driving. According to Distraction.Gov, at any given moment during daylight hours, over 660,000 vehicles are being driven by someone using a hand-held cell phone. To learn more about distracted driving in Whatcom County and the laws that help prevent it, click here.
One of the best videos on distracted driving dangers
From a study of 1,600 managers and professionals, Leslie Perlow, PhD, the Konosuke Matsushita professor of leadership at the Harvard Business School, found that:
70% said they check their smartphone within an hour of getting up. 56% check their phone within an hour of going to sleep. 48% check over the weekend, including on Friday and Saturday nights. 51% check continuously during vacation. 44% said they would experience "a great deal of anxiety" if they lost their phone and couldn't replace it for a week.
Now, click to follow a link to watch the video and read more statistics and studies about distracted driving and how far-ranging a problem it has become.
Commonly held beliefs about multi-tasking contribute to distracted driving
Driving and talking on the phone simultaneously is not like walking and chewing gum. Walking and chewing gum don't involve much concentration. Driving and holding a conversation, however, do involve those areas of the brain that require a lot of thought. Research shows that the mind can't do two distinct thinking tasks at the same time; instead, it switches back and forth very quickly between the two activities. It may look like someone is doing both at the same time, but the brain doesn't work that way. Those brief interruptions in focus can mean that the driver is on autopilot. And autopilot can't react when something unexpected occurs. Click to learn more about how multi-tasking is a myth, and why driving while distracted is so dangerous.