NYT 11/2/09 When Texting Kills, Britain Offers Path to Prison

Phillipa Curtis, 22, is going to prision for 21 months for a rear end car accident that killed the other young driver. The reason is that there is evidence on Ms. Curtis's cell phone that she was texting while driving. Britain is one of the more aggressive countries with laws against cell phone use. Ms. Curtis was not texting at the time of the accident but new guidelines reading or composing messages over a period of time is a distraction. Ms. Curtis would consider herself a safe cell phone user as would many people that text and drive yet it only takes a second to look down and read a message and miss seeing what is happening on the road.