WASHINGTON-A lawsuit was filed against a truck driver and a North Carolina company in connection with the death of a girl killed Jan. 13 when a school bus was rear-ended by a truck whose driver allegedly was reaching for a cell phone he dropped.
Officials at Robeson County Superior Court, where the lawsuit was filed, and at the law firm representing six-year-old Shelia Hernandez, confirmed the legal action.
Initial press reports identified Mountaire Farms of North Carolina and Gary Garnett, the truck driver, as defendants in the lawsuit. Nine of the 14 children on the bus were injured, as was Maria Hernandez, the mother of the girl who died in the accident, the reports said. News services said the lawsuit accuses Mountaire of negligence for not providing proper training-including safe cell-phone use-to Garnett.
Roger Marino, a Mountaire spokesman, declined comment, referring questions to Mike Terrell, vice president for operations. Terrell and William Purcell II, a lawyer representing Mountaire, did not return calls for comment.
Terrell was quoted by the Associated Press as saying, “We make sure that we are very diligent in following U.S. Department of Transportation rules and regulations.”
The Fayetteville (N.C.) Observer, citing a news release, quoted Purcell as stating, “We are working to resolve this issue and help the family through this time.” No such release was found on the Web site of Purcell’s law firm.
Mark Locklear, of North Carolina law firm Locklear, Jacobs, Hunt & Brooks, represents the Hernandez family.
Last year, Corpus Christi, Texas, authorities brought charges of criminally negligent homicide against a driver-who while occupied with his cell phone-allegedly hit and killed two family members and injured a third member of the family. The case was set to go to trial last summer but got sidetracked for reasons that remain unclear.
Meanwhile, Cingular Wireless L.L.C. last week said its teen distracted-driving program ended 2003 having reached nearly 5.6 million students, up from 2 million at the end of 2002. Cingular said more than 14,500 high schools and 2,100 professional driving schools in all 50 states are using the program.
Cingular established the program in 2002 as part of “Be Sensible,” a public-service campaign to educate and remind consumers nationwide about safe and courteous ways to use mobile phones.
While it aggressively pursues teen-driver education, Cingular Wireless does not support statewide or national bans on handheld phone use by drivers. Verizon Wireless, the nation’s No. 1 mobile-phone operator, is the only carrier that backs laws requiring driver use of hands-free devices. While such accessories enable drivers to put both hands on the wheel, studies show they do not markedly improve attention or concentration.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which hired Ogilvy Public Relations to develop an ad campaign on driver safety aimed at teens, is gathering data on driver distraction from on-road and driver simulation experiments. Some results could be issued this spring.
After investigating a 2002 crash in which five adults were killed after a young driver on a cell phone lost control of her Jeep Grand Cherokee, the National Transportation Safety Board recommended a new, federally funded media outreach effort-on top of industry’s driver-safety campaign-to stress driver safety to novice drivers.
New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and some towns ban the operation of handheld phones while driving. Scores of countries have passed laws requiring drivers to use hands-free devices for phones. In 2003, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 42 states considered restricting phone use by drivers. National legislation has been introduced in Congress but has gone nowhere.
Earlier this month, California Assembly member Joe Simitian (D) reintroduced legislation mandating hands-free use on the road. Last year, the lawmaker’s bill passed in the State Assembly but stalled in the Senate. The new measure differs from last year’s in that violations would not jeopardize driving licenses or cause auto insurance rates to increase.
“I’m trying again because the bill will save lives. I’m cautiously optimistic our perseverance will pay off,” said Simitian.
The Los Angeles City Council voted earlier this month to support Simitian’s bill. Pointing to that action, as well as to D.C.’s new cell-phone driving ban, Simitian commented, “I think the timing is right.”
In an interview with RCR Wireless News, Simitian called “patently ridiculous” arguments that hands-free devices do not improve driver safety. He said having two hands on the wheel gives drivers more control. Simitian said he sees driver control related but distinct from driver distraction.
“I have never argued that this addresses the distraction issue. … It [the bill] doesn’t solve the entire problem. It solves some of the problem,” said Simitian.
