Another texting driver mangles scores of people

We need to make texting while driving a serious crime with multi-year
prison terms. Stop coddling these psychopaths. Article says the guy
might lose his job!!

http://www.boston.com/news/local/bre...2009/05/ems_49
_taken_to.html

MBTA: Conductor in Boston trolley crash was texting his girlfriend
May 8, 2009 11:33 PM Email| Comments (116)| Text size – +

By Milton J. Valencia and Noah Bierman, Globe Staff

Saying he was having difficulty containing his outrage, the MBTA's chief
said a trolley driver was text-messaging from his cellphone when he rear-
ended another Green Line trolley on Friday night, sending scores of
people to the hospital and forcing the closure of the Government Center
station.

The conductor, 24 years old and with 22 months on the job, was texting
his girlfriend, said another MBTA official, speaking on condition of
anonymity because of the ongoing investigation.

The driver's action caused a shutdown of a part of the Green Line and
left a surreal scene as emergency workers set up a make-shift emergency
area next to a circus tent before ushering the wounded to hospitals. It
is difficult, MBTA General Manager Dan Grabauskas told reporters, "to
contain my outrage'' at the driver's action.

Under MBTA policy, a driver can be fired for texting while operating a
train, trolley, or bus.

None of the injuries — 49 were taken to the hospital — was considered
life-threatening, Boston emergency medical officials said. But the
passengers were certainly startled, screaming, and more than a few
bloodied, when the collision came without warning at 7:18 p.m. The speed
of the moving trolley was not yet known.

(snip)