By Mendy
I was driving today down Kingston Avenue in Crown Heights and stopped at the intersection waiting for the light to turn green when I was rear-ended by another driver.
When I got out of the car, the first thing I asked the young woman who was behind the steering wheel was “Were you texting?!”
Guess what she answered?
“Yes.”
Some might consider this back luck, but this isn’t the first time this is happening to me. Almost the same scenario happened to me earlier this year – in Crown Heights, as well.
I’m not an older grouch kvetching about young people killing themselves while doing stupid things. Actually, she was probably older than me. But older doesn’t always mean wiser…
She asked if I wanted to call the police to make a report, I didn’t.
Instead, I told her that she should just make sure to update her parents about what happened and that tomorrow she shouldn’t be texting again behind the wheel.
Texting while driving makes you 23 times more likely to crash, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration. It is the cause of nearly 25% of all car accidents, resulting in 11 teen deaths every day.
Think for a minute, just how lucky she is that she (hopefully) learned her lesson without killing anyone. It’s not a joke. Besides for the legal ramifications, imagine living the rest of your life either injured physically or emotionally injured for hurting another person.
So if your friend, child or even parent texts while driving, please tell them something. It’ll save their life.
58.25% of crashes by men last year
63.91% of crashes by woman last year
children under the age of 5 accounted for more than double the amount of crashes last year
woman in old age homes are 3 time as likely to kill have a fatal crash than dead men
AND STUPID PEOPLE GETTING WORKED UP ABOUT STATISTICS ARE 75% MORE LIKELY TO TEXT WHILE DRIVING THAN THOSE WHO GET THE MESSAGE
Stop hating men or women. Statistics can be manipulated to each person’s own thinking. Just stop texting while driving and encourage others to stop also. It’s an individual issue and quoting statistics won’t help save lives.
what if youre in the passenger seat?
If the police are called – not only will this driver learn a lesson – but so will all her friends and her online friends.
you should check with your local Rabbi what a moser today means before posting sources because Dena d’malchusa Dena. I don’t think that this is anywhere the mesira the shulchan aruch is talking about.
To number 22 your missing the the boat put the cell phone away while you are driving who cares if men are better drivers that not the point. Put the cell phones away,
if 68% of all drivers are men an 80% of all crashes are caused by men, who is more likely to cause a crash, a man or a woman?
Can someone do the math?
don’t you understand
this is behavior that destroys people, lives.
not just cars.
every day i hope and pray that my husband who does text while driving should get pulled over and be given a hefty fine. $500 would stop him from doing it again. insurance going up would definitely stop him from doing it again. let’s hope and pray that people don’t learn from this author and they DO CALL police. believe me that is what is called learning the easy way. money, not bodies.
Thank you for bringing awareness
I see like many people with flimsy arguments, you’re making up statistics. Men are indisputably more likely to cause and have accidents. According to NYCDOT, 80% of crashes that kill or injure a pedestrian are caused by male drivers.
Always crashing
With all that and that there are more men drivers still 80 % of accidents are by women
THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR POSTING!!
There is every reason to have this young driver take responsibility for her actions. Not doing so is de-facto enabling.
Isnt that a bit over reacting
Going to jail
She deserves to be taken to jail or at least givin a fine! I was shocked that the police truck on eastern parkway did not notice!
Actually, men are 5% more likely to text and drive, 4% more likely to be distracted while driving, 5% more likely to have accidents base on any cause, 4% more likely to speed the majority of the time, 7% more likely to openly admit they ignore posted speed limits, 22% more likely to drive while over the legal BAC limit, 22% more likely to have fallen asleep at the wheel, and 11% more likely to have hit or had a near-miss with a pedestrian or bicyclist.
There is a reason car insurance costs more for men.
BS”D
people like number 6 are more dangerous than the women driver-calling a Yid a lier. Did the article have to mention that she paid to be valid or maybe the damage was not that great yet it still warranted being called an accident
the article was a great and important message
and let’s not forget ones insurance premium going up if given a ticket for talking on the cell phone (same as texting)
thats not the point! the author is right and i, personally, spoke to several people already who all agreed to turn their phones off and keep focused while driving as a result of this article. thanks so much!
The police in the UK made a short film about the dangers of texting and driving.
WARNING: This video contains some blood and depicts a car crash.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0LCmStIw9E
Not calling the police was a mistake. It would have scared the texter and would have helped teach the lesson. Texting while driving kills.
Who said there was damage? The story sounds very plausible. Unfortunately. Everyone should be careful not to text behind the wheel.
It happened with me. You can ask Yisroel Shemtov, he was there.
To my understanding, a moiser is only applies if the punishment being administered to the person he tells on is out of proportion to what he did. I don’t think this applies here when the government laws are made for the people’s benefit.
Their should be such a thing that if a driver is behind the wheel while the motor is on the Cell phone should have a sensor NOT to talk or answer phones while the moter is on….rather then the person is calling (that driver @ the time) should say….something like….”we’re sorry you cannot reach the driver at this time as he or she is driving” please call back later….
To #2 and #3
Get a life and marriage counseling if your married if not yet married seek some help before looking for a shidduch
To the writer I don’t believe that this story happened for the simple reason that if it did just having her let her parents know what happened wouldn’t settle the damage to your car, I wouldn’t call the police myself if I was promised to have the damages covered by the irresponcipal driver or her parents.
Does that apply even when the person you are being Moser on is endangering their life and the lives of others? I think not. It may actually be a Mitzvah.
Better to settle it yourself and not be a moiser
Shulchan aruch Goshen moshpat 388.10
י מותר להרוג המוסר בכל מקום אפילו בזמן הזה, ומותר להורגו קודם שימסור, אלא כשאמר הריני מוסר פלוני בגופו או בממונו אפילו ממון קל, התיר עצמו למיתה, ומתרין בו ואומרים לו אל תמסור, אם העז פניו ואמר לא כי אלא אמסרנו, מצוה להורגו וכל הקודם להרגו זכה…
Girls and their issues are understandable and important,
But human lives are more.
Please call the police next time, girls and their phones can kill us!!
Woman drivers have a 80% higher risk in crashing while doing something else while the mans brain has a significantly less percentage
You’re very nice in not calling the police, but the driver who was texting may have learned a lesson the hard way. Baruch Hashem sounds like no one was seriously hurt either.