Kid killed by cell phone

Cell Phone Said Linked to Fatal N.C. Crash

January 13, 2004 09:52 PM EST

RALEIGH, N.C. - A truck driver fumbling for a cell
phone plowed his tractor-trailer into a stopped
school bus Tuesday in rural North Carolina,
killing a 5-year-old girl as she boarded the bus,
troopers said. Her mother and more than a
dozen other children were injured.

The force of the crash, on a two-lane highway
near Maxton, propelled the bus more than 400
feet and into the yards of nearby houses. Sheila
Hernandez, who was on her way to
pre-kindergarten, was killed. Maria Hernandez,
25, was severely injured as she stood nearby,
watching her daughter.

The truck driver, Gary Garnett, had been heading
to pick up a load of chickens for Mountaire Farms.
He told troopers "he was distracted because he was
trying to locate his cell phone, which he dropped
on the floorboard," said Sgt. Everett Clendenin, a
spokesman for the Highway Patrol.

Charges were expected against Garnett once troopers
confer with prosecutors later this week, Clendenin
said. Garnett was hospitalized with severe injuries.

According to the Highway Patrol, Garnett had been
involved in at least two other accidents and had
four previous driving convictions, including one
for going 30 mph over the speed limit.

Clendenin said skid marks at the scene showed
the trucker attempted to stop before his vehicle
hit the bus squarely in the rear and then hit the
child's mother.

Maria Hernandez was hospitalized Tuesday in
serious condition. Two children from the bus were
also taken to nearby hospitals, but information
on their conditions was not available. Fourteen
others were treated and released.

Mike Terrell, Mountaire's vice president for operations,
said he had no information on Garnett's previous record.

"We make sure that we are very diligent in following the
U.S. Department of Transportation rules and regulations,"
Terrell said.

The accident scene was about 1 1/2 miles north of Maxton,
near the South Carolina border.

Also Tuesday, nine elementary school students were
injured in another collision in Okahumpka, Fla.,
when a tractor-trailer clipped the rear end of
their bus. The truck driver was cited for failing
to yield the right of way.

In northeastern Oklahoma, a sport utility
vehicle carrying six high school students on
their way to lunch collided with a school bus
Tuesday, killing a boy and seriously injuring
the five others. Nobody was in the bus except
the driver, who was not hurt.

And in Bloomfield Township, Mich., an Amtrak
passenger train collided with a school bus that
was occupied only by the driver, who was taken
to a local hospital. No one on the train was
injured, police Capt. Kirt Bowden said.

On Monday, a school bus in St. Louis overturned
on a highway, injuring the driver and many of the
26 children aboard.

"Lynda Whalen" wrote in message
...
Cell Phone Said Linked to Fatal N.C. Crash

January 13, 2004 09:52 PM EST

RALEIGH, N.C. - A truck driver fumbling for a cell
phone plowed his tractor-trailer into a stopped
school bus Tuesday in rural North Carolina,
killing a 5-year-old girl as she boarded the bus,
troopers said. Her mother and more than a
dozen other children were injured.

The force of the crash, on a two-lane highway
near Maxton, propelled the bus more than 400
feet and into the yards of nearby houses. Sheila
Hernandez, who was on her way to
pre-kindergarten, was killed. Maria Hernandez,
25, was severely injured as she stood nearby,
watching her daughter.

The truck driver, Gary Garnett, had been heading
to pick up a load of chickens for Mountaire Farms.
He told troopers "he was distracted because he was
trying to locate his cell phone, which he dropped
on the floorboard," said Sgt. Everett Clendenin, a
spokesman for the Highway Patrol.

Charges were expected against Garnett once troopers
confer with prosecutors later this week, Clendenin
said. Garnett was hospitalized with severe injuries.

According to the Highway Patrol, Garnett had been
involved in at least two other accidents and had
four previous driving convictions, including one
for going 30 mph over the speed limit.

Clendenin said skid marks at the scene showed
the trucker attempted to stop before his vehicle
hit the bus squarely in the rear and then hit the
child's mother.

Maria Hernandez was hospitalized Tuesday in
serious condition. Two children from the bus were
also taken to nearby hospitals, but information
on their conditions was not available. Fourteen
others were treated and released.

Mike Terrell, Mountaire's vice president for operations,
said he had no information on Garnett's previous record.

"We make sure that we are very diligent in following the
U.S. Department of Transportation rules and regulations,"
Terrell said.

The accident scene was about 1 1/2 miles north of Maxton,
near the South Carolina border.

Also Tuesday, nine elementary school students were
injured in another collision in Okahumpka, Fla.,
when a tractor-trailer clipped the rear end of
their bus. The truck driver was cited for failing
to yield the right of way.

In northeastern Oklahoma, a sport utility
vehicle carrying six high school students on
their way to lunch collided with a school bus
Tuesday, killing a boy and seriously injuring
the five others. Nobody was in the bus except
the driver, who was not hurt.

And in Bloomfield Township, Mich., an Amtrak
passenger train collided with a school bus that
was occupied only by the driver, who was taken
to a local hospital. No one on the train was
injured, police Capt. Kirt Bowden said.

On Monday, a school bus in St. Louis overturned
on a highway, injuring the driver and many of the
26 children aboard.

It could have been a cassette tape, or a cigarette, or a bottle of water --
ultimately, the dropped object was NOT responsible for the child's death, as
the headline so sensationally declares -- the driver was.

Silly of you to spread this nonsense.


--
"There are 10 kinds of people in the world:
those who understand binary numbers and those who don't."
-----------------------------
Byron "Barn" Canfield

Lynda,

The dishonest subject in your message makes me
angry. I am not, of course, angry with you, only with
the title that implies a cell phone (could have been
any other object) could have the will or ability to
kill a child. You, of course, are not responsible for
what you wrote; it just happened to appear that way!

marvin

Marvin L. Zinn
Reply to:
Using Virtual Access
Windows 2000 build 2600

In alt.cellular Marvin L. Zinn wrote:
Lynda,

The dishonest subject in your message makes me
angry. I am not, of course, angry with you, only with
the title that implies a cell phone (could have been
any other object) could have the will or ability to
kill a child. You, of course, are not responsible for
what you wrote; it just happened to appear that way!

It's especially stupid because the article states the guy has a history of
driving badly...

--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Geek In Charge * 888.480.4NET (4638) *

"Byron Canfield" wrote in message news:4a8Nb.61283$8H.105671@attbi_s03...

snip

It could have been a cassette tape, or a cigarette, or a bottle of water --
ultimately, the dropped object was NOT responsible for the child's death, as
the headline so sensationally declares -- the driver was.

Silly of you to spread this nonsense.

Exactly. SOP when you drop something in your vehicle is a quick foot
sweep under the brake and clutch pedals to make sure the object you've
dropped hasn't rolled under them... then just let it go until you can
stop and safely investigate.

Also an excellent argument for rubber floor mats if you smoke in the
car (think about it)

nate

They should put that cell phone in jail for that!

"Steven J Sobol" wrote in message
...
In alt.cellular Marvin L. Zinn wrote:
Lynda,

The dishonest subject in your message makes me
angry. I am not, of course, angry with you, only with
the title that implies a cell phone (could have been
any other object) could have the will or ability to
kill a child. You, of course, are not responsible for
what you wrote; it just happened to appear that way!

It's especially stupid because the article states the guy has a history of
driving badly...

Not only that (if the facts are accurate), but depending on the length of
skid marks left by the truck, along with the weight of the truck and general
inattentiveness by the driver (who appears to have been behind the school
bus and certainly should have seen it and been aware that it was stopping
periodically to pick up children), that the driver was driving too fast for
road conditions.

*Speed* is the primary factor for the seriousness of the accident, not the
distraction of the driver. If he had been driving slowly, even if he
rear-ended a school bus, the bus would not have been pushed as far as it
was, and probably would have caused less property damage and less severe
injury. If he had been driving at a more appropriate speed, when he hit his
brakes, he would have had a better chance of stopping prior to impact.

Leah
--
JustThe.net Internet & New Media Services
22674 Motnocab Road * Apple Valley, CA 92307-1950
Steve Sobol, Geek In Charge * 888.480.4NET (4638) *

Marvin L. Zinn wrote:

Lynda,

The dishonest subject in your message makes me
angry. I am not, of course, angry with you, only with
the title that implies a cell phone (could have been
any other object) could have the will or ability to
kill a child. You, of course, are not responsible for
what you wrote; it just happened to appear that way!

This being r.a.d, I knew right away that it was about an accident caused by
the driver messing with his/her cell phone...

Dai

--
2004 M3 Coupe (Oxford Green / Black)
// Bi-Xenon Headlights
// Power Seats w/ Adjustable Width/Lumbar Support
// H/K Stereo Upgrade

Leah Adezio wrote:

*Speed* is the primary factor for the seriousness of the accident, not the
distraction of the driver. If he had been driving slowly, even if he
rear-ended a school bus, the bus would not have been pushed as far as it
was, and probably would have caused less property damage and less severe
injury. If he had been driving at a more appropriate speed, when he hit
his brakes, he would have had a better chance of stopping prior to impact.

I'd say the primary factor *was* the distraction of the driver. If it
weren't for his looking 'round for his cell phone, the accident would most
probably NOT happened. If, OTOH, the driver had been driving more slowly
and gotten distracted by the phone, the accident may have been less
impactive but it would still have occurred. At least that's what I think.

Dai

--
2004 M3 Coupe (Oxford Green / Black)
// Bi-Xenon Headlights
// Power Seats w/ Adjustable Width/Lumbar Support
// H/K Stereo Upgrade

But if he'd been fumbling for his pack of cigarettes it would have
been a-ok huh??


On Wed, 14 Jan 2004 01:49:35 -0500, Lynda Whalen
wrote:

Cell Phone Said Linked to Fatal N.C. Crash

January 13, 2004 09:52 PM EST

RALEIGH, N.C. - A truck driver fumbling for a cell
phone plowed his tractor-trailer into a stopped
school bus Tuesday in rural North Carolina,
killing a 5-year-old girl as she boarded the bus,
troopers said. Her mother and more than a
dozen other children were injured.

The force of the crash, on a two-lane highway
near Maxton, propelled the bus more than 400
feet and into the yards of nearby houses. Sheila
Hernandez, who was on her way to
pre-kindergarten, was killed. Maria Hernandez,
25, was severely injured as she stood nearby,
watching her daughter.

The truck driver, Gary Garnett, had been heading
to pick up a load of chickens for Mountaire Farms.
He told troopers "he was distracted because he was
trying to locate his cell phone, which he dropped
on the floorboard," said Sgt. Everett Clendenin, a
spokesman for the Highway Patrol.

Charges were expected against Garnett once troopers
confer with prosecutors later this week, Clendenin
said. Garnett was hospitalized with severe injuries.

According to the Highway Patrol, Garnett had been
involved in at least two other accidents and had
four previous driving convictions, including one
for going 30 mph over the speed limit.

Clendenin said skid marks at the scene showed
the trucker attempted to stop before his vehicle
hit the bus squarely in the rear and then hit the
child's mother.

Maria Hernandez was hospitalized Tuesday in
serious condition. Two children from the bus were
also taken to nearby hospitals, but information
on their conditions was not available. Fourteen
others were treated and released.

Mike Terrell, Mountaire's vice president for operations,
said he had no information on Garnett's previous record.

"We make sure that we are very diligent in following the
U.S. Department of Transportation rules and regulations,"
Terrell said.

The accident scene was about 1 1/2 miles north of Maxton,
near the South Carolina border.

Also Tuesday, nine elementary school students were
injured in another collision in Okahumpka, Fla.,
when a tractor-trailer clipped the rear end of
their bus. The truck driver was cited for failing
to yield the right of way.

In northeastern Oklahoma, a sport utility
vehicle carrying six high school students on
their way to lunch collided with a school bus
Tuesday, killing a boy and seriously injuring
the five others. Nobody was in the bus except
the driver, who was not hurt.

And in Bloomfield Township, Mich., an Amtrak
passenger train collided with a school bus that
was occupied only by the driver, who was taken
to a local hospital. No one on the train was
injured, police Capt. Kirt Bowden said.

On Monday, a school bus in St. Louis overturned
on a highway, injuring the driver and many of the
26 children aboard.