Texting and driving: A wake-up call

Kaitlyn Dunaway’s parents also had reason to be proud. Dunaway, 18, was a freshman at Sonoma State University and a star volleyball player.

But on Dec. 1, according to the Sonoma County district attorney, Dunaway did something stupid, reckless and illegal that countless people do every year. The teen attempted to text while she was driving.

According to authorities, Dunaway was so distracted by her cellphone, she did not see Calli walking hand in hand with her mother in a Rohnert Park crosswalk. Dunaway’s Honda plowed into the toddler and her mother. Calli was killed. Ling Murray suffered major bone fractures and was unconscious for five days. She continues to undergo rehabilitation.

Dunaway is the first known person in California to be prosecuted for allegedly causing a death while texting and driving. She was charged in May with misdemeanor vehicular manslaughter. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to one year in county jail. Her attorney has asked for more time to review the evidence before Dunaway enters a plea. She is scheduled to return to court Thursday, though her attorney says she fully admits responsibility and is devastated by what happened.

In the court of public opinion, she has been called a “baby killer.” Some say Dunaway deserves nothing less than to rot in prison so she can reflect on all the pain she has caused.

I don’t see what would be accomplished by locking away this young woman for years on end. She made a terrible mistake that she will have to live with every day for the rest of her life.

I would rather see her, as part of her sentence, ordered to go out and talk to others about the dangers of texting and driving. Maybe she could help to scare some sense into some people.

A study last year by the American Journal of Public Health found that there were 16,000 traffic fatalities between 2002 and 2007 due to texting while driving. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood called cellphone use while driving an epidemic.

“Everyone has a cellphone and everyone thinks they can use it while driving,” LaHood said. “They can’t.”

As a result of Calli’s death, some of her family members are fighting to change current laws to increase the criminal penalties for texting while driving. “Calli’s Law” would add an amendment to the penal code that would make the penalties the same as for drunke driving in the event of injury or loss of life.

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I found myself in an interesting position recently where I was traveling with a new cell phone that I didn’t really know how to use yet and I needed to make sure that I woke up in time for an important meeting in the morning. I fumbled around with my cell phone for a few minutes trying to find the alarm feature but it was late and I was really tired so I decided that I would check the Internet for a free wake up call to cell phone service.

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I was especially pleased that there wasn’t a long application that I had to fill out and I didn’t have to sign up for an account in order to get free wake up calls from wakerupper. All I had to do is enter the date and time that I wanted to receive the phone call, the phone number that I wanted the service to call, and a short message to be included in the wake up call. Then I simply had to enter to captcha code into a text box to verify that I was a real person making the request and not a computer program spamming their service. The final step was to click the button that said “I accept. Schedule my call”. I was a little bit apprehensive and nervous that I wouldn’t actually receive a call in the morning but just as sure as the sun comes up every morning, my phone rang at the precise time I needed the wake up call.

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If you decide that the service has value to you and you would like to continue using this online wake up call service, you’ll just have to put some money on your account and you will be charged 5¢ a minute to use the premium features of the service. Some of the premium features that are available are returning phone calls, voice reminders, and a snooze feature.

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