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Shattering it today and taking out the local power, just like another teen did with another pole down the street a few months ago.

I am trying to find the reference for the claim that the highest crash risk is for teen drivers with ADD, as they are so easily distracted. In this case, when the 18 year old looked up from her screen going about about 50 MPH, she saw a big tree ahead and overcompensated by swerving to the left and across the oncoming lane to hit the pole on the other side. Airbag deployed and she just has a fat lip for injuries.

26 responses to “Teen Texting vs. Telephone Pole”

  1. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    and the repair effort this evening, still ongoing
    IMG_0066

    Reply
  2. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    sigh…..
    at least she is alive and in one piece.

    if she really had ADD she would have been distracted from her cellphone by the road :-))

    Reply
  3. pegleg000 Avatar
    pegleg000

    Lucky gal, although I bet she doesn’t feel that way now. ADD … nothing wrong with that… it is my friend and ally … it keeps those around me guessing… 😉

    Reply
  4. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    I also read (in a book) that ADD/ADHD causes accidents at a higher rate. It did not mention the age. ADD/ADHD causes all sorts of distractions in everyday situations.

    Luckily, the girl is alright. You had no power but it served as a good lesson for your children to be safe when driving.

    Reply
  5. Pieces of Eye Avatar
    Pieces of Eye

    You can also see more. In traffic I would imagine that those with ADD have less of a tendency to fixate on the car in front of them.

    Reply
  6. seatonsnet Avatar
    seatonsnet

    At least she didn’t run over somebody who just happened to be standing there. Being totally aware of one’s actual surroundings is rule number one in life.

    Reply
  7. solerena Avatar
    solerena

    Texting is a great thing but not while driving…

    Reply
  8. angry shock Avatar
    angry shock

    Negligence and irresponsibility. Youngster folly, not ADD. She should be threatened to have her license taken away for life, and then you will see how easily and suddenly she is cured from ADD… 😉

    Another way of saying it then: If you have ADD, you shouldn’t be given a driving license, because the amount of stimuli you are exposed to makes it virtually impossible to keep your precarious attention where it should be for the required amount of time.

    I can imagine that a lot of people who blame on ADD/ADHA a lot of their questionable behavior, would do the unimaginable to retract and demonstrate how far they are from having something like ADD were they at risk of not getting a driving license…

    Reply
  9. WF&DT Avatar
    WF&DT

    Welcome to my world.

    Reply
  10. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    My friend Omar found a reference:
    "A 2007 study concluded that young drivers with A.D.H.D. are two to four times as likely as those without the condition to have an accident — meaning that they are at a higher risk of wrecking the car than an adult who is legally drunk." (NYT).

    A couple of startups are developing software games to address this condition in teen drivers. (and it’s not just for the ADD extremes; 40-70% of teen accidents are explained by failures of attention or failures of visual search, and those crashes are often single vehicle collisions – the teen drives off the road and into an object).

    My son had a simple suggestion: make them drive the Google robo-cars. Wishful thinking on his part… but I have to agree, and will be trying to enforce that when the time comes… =)

    Reply
  11. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    It is important not to jump to conclusions and especially not to make judgments of any kind in any situation. Who are we to know what happened exactly.

    As for people who are not perfect (ADD etc), no one is anyway. Everyone has something that makes the person not perfect. It is easy to judge but others can also judge those who judge. Judgment ought to be avoided as everyone can be its victim.

    Reply
  12. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    That sounds judgmental… =)

    Reply
  13. linux-works Avatar
    linux-works

    texting and teens don’t mix.

    therefore, outlaw teens.

    problem solved.

    Reply
  14. Jim Rees Avatar
    Jim Rees

    11Kv distribution line, pole transformer, cable TV and a telephone cable. She picked her target wisely. Unfortunately she failed in the execution, as it looks like nothing but the power had to be spliced.

    Reply
  15. !MimosaMicheMichelle! Avatar
    !MimosaMicheMichelle!

    Impossible as I spoke from the heart in defence of the innocent. -:)

    Reply
  16. linux-works Avatar
    linux-works

    this shouldn’t be too surprising: the driver was on a wireless phone. the pole was carrying wire-based phone service. see, those two are natural enemies; it was only a matter of time before they clashed.

    Reply
  17. Jim Rees Avatar
    Jim Rees

    Good point. You could also say that electric power and internal combustion are battling over the future of the automobile, so on the road they are enemies too.

    Reply
  18. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    a "pain killer abuser" with back pain?
    speaking of judgements…..

    so, anyone who takes painkillers for backpain is automatically an abuser.
    they can then be innocent abusers or malignant abusers…..

    Reply
  19. scleroplex Avatar
    scleroplex

    relax 🙂
    it comes down to using the word abuser extremely loosely.
    as in "innocent abuser" :-))

    Reply
  20. jurvetson Avatar
    jurvetson

    Meanwhile, you have to see the evolved form of texting on the road… a very short video

    Reply
  21. drona Avatar
    drona

    Luckily only the telephone pole got hurt…

    Reply
  22. seatonsnet Avatar
    seatonsnet

    @mimosa0
    In this case we are looking at a damn fool who could have killed herself or some other person. A joke if it wasn’t nearly tragic. Hard not to be judgmental.

    Reply
  23. pegleg000 Avatar
    pegleg000

    @Steve JurvetsonThat reminds me of the tech support I got from India recently…. 8-0

    Reply
  24. Vox Sciurorum Avatar
    Vox Sciurorum

    NHTSA is mandating stability control on new cars to help cut down on accidents caused by overcorrection.

    Reply
  25. bike-R Avatar
    bike-R

    Thank GM it was an OLDER SUBURBAN that can take a hit and absorb the impacts, tell the parents they can count their blessings the Sub Crumpled the way it did!

    Reply
  26. sbove Avatar
    sbove

    Debt + insurance = drivers with no concerns for how valuable their vehicle is, or more importantly, how much damage they can do when they lose control. Lucky there was not an on-coming car in the lane she swerved across – that could have resulted in multiple fatalities.

    Reply

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