Virginia Motorists Still Allowed To Text and Talk

***This all seems like a big waste of the governments time. If each and every person with a cell phone would just say NO to the usage of the cell phone while behind the wheel of a vehicle our government could be tending to more important matters than using precious time preparing another LAW like this one for its people. Talking and texting can/should wait until you safely pull to the side of the road or into a parking lot or even until you reach your destination. We ALL know this! And we ALL know you might not reach that destination if you don't take the few seconds of time to be safe. And I'm sure you've been warned about the hazzards of texting/talking while driving or may have thought about it being dangerous.

If you don't know anyone that has been harmed by using a cell phone while behind the wheel of a vehicle I suggest you ask at your local hospital or shock trauma unit.***


For another year Virginia motorists will be allowed to talk and text on their cell phones while driving.


On Thursday A House subcommittee killed a bill from Sen. Thomas Norment that would have banned talking while driving. Police would NOT have been able to pull drivers over until next year.


Until that time, using a cell phone would have been a secondary offense. This means police could only issue tickets if the motorist had been pulled over for another traffic violation.


Bills also killed by the House Millitia, Police and Public Safety Subcommittee were bills allowing police to ticket motorists for texting while driving and teen driver's with provisional driver's licenses who talk on cell phones. Both offenses would be noted as secondary offenses.


Both of those offenses would be secondary offenses.

Courtney Bloxom's Mother To Be Interviewed On WBOC Tonight

Please watch WBOC TV 16 tonight at 6:00 PM.

Becky Bloxom, the mother of Courtney Bloxom, will be interviewed and will explain just exactly what is involved in the life of a patient that suffers from Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) on a daily basis.

Courtney is the nineteen year old Arcadia High School student still hospitalized from a car accident back in May of 2010. At the present time Courtney is a patient at Shore LifeCare in Parksley, Virginia. Each day she undergoes hours of extensive therapies trying to get her young body back on the right track so that she may live life as she once did.

This young woman has a very long way to go but it has been through prayer, her wonderful medical personnel and the love from family, friends and even strangers that has helped Courtney stay on course.

On her facebook page Courtney has close to 4,000 friends many of them leaving notes of love to her on a daily basis. Each and every day Becky takes the time to give updates on Courtney's progress. The journey has been a long one but each day Courtney's Mother makes sure God knows how thankful she is.

Please say a prayer for Courtney as she continues to recover.

Back To School Time..........

School busses will be on the road today as the Virginia students start their first day back to class from their summer vacation. Please be on the look out for children waiting for the bus and children getting off the bus.

Drive with caution.

And for the teen that has spent the summer using your two thumbs and can text 60 words/half words per minute or has developed one ear larger than the other: PUT YOUR PHONE AWAY!

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DRIVE AND TEXT! OR TALK!! To do so may be hazzardous to your health and there is NOTHING that important that can not wait until you reach your destination.

Isn't it better to be a little late and have your friends a little mad when you meet them than to have them mad at you a whole lot for a lifetime because you are dead?

You know the deal........SO JUST DO IT! If you don't you're just plain STUPID!

Start your school year alive.

Students Produce Video About Texting While Driving

NEWPORT NEWS — Geoffrey Wilds sees it all the time while walking his younger brother through the Menchville High School parking lot.

Student drivers — making their way through the parking lot — texting while driving.

"I don't want my little brother getting hit by these idiots," said Wilds, a junior.

Texting while driving has become so commonplace that Wilds and other students from high schools across Newport News decided to create a public service announcement. It was part of a challenge from Police Chief James Fox to the department's student advisory council to devise a volunteer project that could have an impact on the community.

Students shot a 30-second video for a public service announcement. The video shows a student texting, the resulting accident, emergency vehicles arriving and a student being wheeled into a hospital emergency room. It ends showing a text from "mom" asking "Are you OK?"

Christopher Cheely, a Menchville High School senior, directed the video. He said he had all of the scenes imagined in his head, and he paid close attention to every detail. Cheely said his goal is to become a movie director.

The video was shot at Todd Stadium, Mary Immaculate Hospital and Woodside High School.

The students hope to land on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" because the talk show host has campaigned against texting while driving. If it's not showcased on Winfrey's show, the students also aim to have the video shown at high schools across the state and in driver's training classes.

Shooting and editing the video took about four months, the students said.

Taylor Henkel, a Menchville High School junior, said he's happy the message is getting out.

"The road is dangerous enough without any distractions at all," Henkel said. "Nothing is that important that it can't wait 10 to 15 minutes for you to drive home."

To view video go to www.dailypress.com/psa

Woman Charged With Texting After Car Crash

SUFFOLK, Va. (WAVY) - A woman is being charged with texting while driving after she crashed into a house Wednesday afternoon in Suffolk, police said.

Police say the motorist, who was driving a Toyota Yaros, was not injured when she struck a house in the 4300 block of Holland Road.

There were no other injuries, police say.

www.wavy.com

'NO- PHONE ZONE DAY'

This is wonderful! I used to get so mad when I found out that I had stepped on a piece of gum that some moron had spit out of his or her own mouth. I learned to step around that.

The problem now is dodging the morons that have cell phones to their ears OR are texting while they are walking. If I bump into you I don't mean to......... I'm looking for gum. If you would hang up that cell phone you would have seen me coming. And if you are texting/talking while driving your car and you hit me and I live through it you can best believe I will kick your butt! In the event that you kill me you had better believe my family will take care of your phone problem.

Folks, talking/texting on the phone while driving OR walking is senseless! Have you truly become so disassociated from yourself you need to hear someone elses voice constantly?
We wouldn't need laws to prevent this is you would take the responsibility to JUST NOT do it!!!
Remember Oprah's "random acts of kindness"? Well, her new campaign of kindness is anything but random.

Today is Oprah's national "No-Phone Zone Day," a grassroots campaign that is asking all Americans to be kind and save lives by not using their cell phones -- texting or dialing by hand -- while driving. She is also dedicating her entire show today to the campaign. Why all this hoopla?

Research shows that these activities can prove to be, not only dangerous, but deadly. In fact, one new British study found that "texting while driving slows reaction time more than being drunk or high," writes Sari Harrar in O, The Oprah Magazine.

In addition to these pledges, Oprah is also asking folks to sign her No Phone Zone pledge, promising not to text or use hand-held phones while driving. More than 200,000 people -- including several celebs -- have signed the pledge so far.

The Governors Highway Safety Association, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and many other national safety advocate groups and individuals are teaming up with Oprah to support this cause. Even Maryland's State Highway Administration is using their overhead highway signs today to show their support.

And what good grassroots campaign would be without local rallies? Expect to see some 24 states and several cities, including Altanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, and Washington, D.C., honoring the day with their own events.

www.usatoday.com