Browsing Facebook while at the wheel? Then please put that phone away, as that action just cost a life in the United States recently.
In North Dakota, 20-year-old Abby Sletten was driving her SUV at 136kmh on the highway while browsing images on Facebook via her mobile phone. These actions alone demonstrated Sletten made two dangerous actions – driving fast and distracted while behind the wheel. Her actions had caused her to crash into the back of another SUV, which was trying to make a U-turn. Eyewitness reported Sletten’s SUV did not attempt to brake at all.
While Sletten survived the crash, the other passenger of that other SUV did not, as 89-year-old Phyllis Gordon, who was sat in the front of that SUV, succumbed into her injuries. Gordon’s granddaughter, driver Jennifer L. Myers, 34, and Myers’ daughter was also injured in that crash.
The authorities meanwhile examined Sletten’s phone after the accident and discovered she was viewing pictures on her Facebook application at the time of the crash. The offender had also sent and received text messages while travelling to her destination during that incident. With that, Sletten, who had no recollection of that crash, was charged with negligent homicide. She could face jail time of five years if found guilty.
As we highlighted here, please keep your hands on the steering wheel and eyes on the road. Afterall, this would be probably what Phyllis Gordon would want to tell you as well, if she could.
[Source: CNET]
