Phillipa Curtis, 22, rear-ended Victoria McBryde’s broken-down yellow Fiat, killing McBryde instantly. Curtis had been texting, but not at the exact moment of the crash, the Times reported.

New British sentencing guidelines equate prolonged texting before a crash with drinking and driving, or with drag racing. The guidelines call for terms of four to seven years. Curtis received only 21 months.

The Times reports:

“Britain’s new guidelines state that using a hand-held phone when causing a death will “always make the offense more serious” in terms of punishment and lead to prison time. Texting is given special treatment. … Although most European countries and a minority of American states now ban the use of hand-held cellphones while driving, Britain has become one of the more aggressive countries in attacking the problem.”

One can only wonder how American legislators would make of the prolonged DWT concept — considering that many can’t figure out how to exempt 911 calls from hands-free legislation. Or are stumped by how police could possibly tell if a driver were texting.

Curtis, whose lenient sentence was upheld because of her “geniune remorse,” is shown in a photo accompanying the article — walking into court while having a chat on her cell phone.

It was to be one of the first laws in the United States protecting citizens from drivers who were distracted by their cell phones. The governor vetoed the legislation.

Almost a decade later, Rhode Island finally is sending another governor a distracted driver law, this one expected to be signed. But the law outlaws reading, writing and sending text messages while behind the wheel — not the use of cell phones.

The sponsor? Rep. Peter Kilmartin, D-Pawtucket.

“I realize this is a 10-year effort, and if we can get the most egregious offense out of the way at this time I’m happy doing this,” Kilmartin said after the Oct. 29 vote in the state House that sent the plan to the governor.

The House’s debate on the texting ban included criticisms that the bill did not go far enough and ban cell phone use by drivers.

Kilmartin, a former policeman, was almost hit by a driver using a handheld electronic device a decade ago.

The Rhode Island texting ban could become effective within a week or so. The state Department of Transportation already is preparing signage that would help unaware drivers avoid fines of $85 to $125.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has widened his department’s initiatives to “distractions as they apply beyond cars — to rail, buses, and now, planes,” a spokesman told the Associated Press on Oct. 28.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the incident “the ultimate case of distracted driving — only this time it was distracted flying.”

The two pilots, whose licenses have been revoked, were out of touch for almost an hour and a half.

At a Senate hearing on a new distracted driving bill Wednesday, Hood noted that “the problem is not just confined to vehicles on our roads — it affects all modes of transportation.”

That’s the story du jour from two pilots at Northwest Airlines regarding their infamous 150-mile overshoot of the Minneapolis-St. Paul airport the other day.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., called the incident “the ultimate case of distracted driving — only this time it was distracted flying.”

Having just days before made that landing at MSP on that very airline — sitting next to my 16-year-old boy — I’m rooting for some serious prison time for these clowns (who apparently dressed as pilots for Halloween).

For the record, they’re first officer Richard Cole of Salem, Ore., and captain Timothy Cheney of Gig Harbor, Wash.

Whether they were sleeping, engaged in “intense conversation” or fooling with their laptops — whatever the explanation is today — they endangered the lives of 144 people who put their trust in a major airline and its flight crews.

Northwest should refund those passengers’ money as well.

(Updates: The pilots’ licenses were revoked on Tuesday. The AP reported that the FAA is likely to take a hard look at the use of portable computers and other portable electronic devices by pilots. There are no federal rules that specifically ban pilots’ use of these devices if the plane is flying above 10,000 feet, said an FAA spokeswoman. Delta, which owns Northwest, said using laptops while flying is against policy and would result in termination.)

Enforcement of the province-wide ban started Monday, but the fines that could sap violators of $500 (CAN) won’t kick in until Feb. 1, 2010.

“This law is about keeping your eyes on the road and your hands on the wheel,” Transportation Minister Jim Bradley said at a news conference in Toronto on Monday. “We need to prevent these unnecessary road accidents and I believe this law will do just that.”

Drivers may continue to use cell phones if a hands-free device such as a Bluetooth headset
is employed.

Violations include talking, texting or emailing on cell phones or PDAs while behind the wheel. Cell phones may be used if the driver pulls off the road, but not while stopped in traffic.

Laptop computers and entertainment devices such as DVD players and game units are covered as well. The law prohibits viewing of any electronic screen “unrelated to the driving task such as laptops or DVD players while driving,” Ontario’s Ministry of Transportation says.

GPS units are exempted if they are mounted to a dashboard and iPods must be connected to the auto’s speaker system.

Read Ontario’s complete Rules for Hand-Held Wireless and Entertainment Devices.

There are no points charged to the license under Ontario’s new law, but drivers who endanger others while using electronic devices could face 6 points and fines up to $1,000.

The Legislature unanimously passed the plan on April 22, 2009. Premier Dalton McGuinty had opposed the ban but gave in to growing support. The intent was to get the law in place before the onset of winter driving.

Newfoundland and Labrador have long outlawed use of handheld cell phones while driving. Quebec and Nova Scotia joined the club this year. British Columbia is about to enact similar sanctions.

Saskatchewan and Alberta are in various stages of enacting bans against drivers using handheld cell phones and text messaging.

Read the Ontario cell phone and texting bill 118 (PDF).

Related content:

Ontario reins in handheld devices

Ontario targets cell phones, text messages

Canadian cell phone law updates

The governor promised “swift action.” Grounding perhaps?

The celebrity gossip web site TMZ posted a photo and video of Shriver yapping while driving at two different times, saying she dropped the cell phone when she realized she was being photographed.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger used Twitter to say: “Thanks for bringing her violations to my attention. There’s going to be swift action.”

About the same time, TMZ said it caught Shriver yet again driving and cell-phoning in Brentwood. Here’s the evidence:

The 19-year-old admitted she was text messaging Oct. 4 just before she plowed her vehicle into a utility pole in the city of Kittery.

The neighbors took notice — their power was knocked out for the afternoon.

Maine’s distracted driving law went into effect Sept. 12. Legislation specifically prohibiting texting and handheld cell phone use while driving failed to advance in 2009, and critics have said the general law does not adequately address these dangerous practices.

The news was announced Thursday by Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, left, as he spoke on the final day of the DOT’s distracted driving summit.

“Text messaging causes drivers to take their eyes off the road and at least one hand off the steering wheel, endangering both themselves and others,” the president said as he signed the three-page executive order.

The ban did not include limits on drivers talking on handheld cell phones, echoing the year’s trend in state legislatures.

The ban is identical to the one that went into effect several weeks ago at the National Transportation Safety Board.

Federal employees are prohibited from texting while driving government-owned vehicles or cell phones, or while conducting U.S. business while in their personal cars, or while using federal cell phones.

“This meeting is probably the most important meeting in the history of the Department of Transportation,” LaHood told the conference audience of safety experts, legislators, telcom execs and family members of those killed by texters.

The ban on text messaging by federal staffers is now in effect. The president signed the order Wednesday night, the New York Times reported.

Sure to be much more controversial is a forthcoming ban on interstate truckers and bus drivers. The New York Times also reported Thursday on the phenomenon of cars used as offices, as well as truckers and the computers that they use in their cabs.

The government was ready with the statistical evidence: 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 were injured in 2008 in which distracted driving was a factor. Sixteen percent of fatal crashes had the link, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration found.

“Distracted driving is an epidemic and it seems to be getting worse every year,” LaHood told his audience of experts on traffic safety.

The summit was inspired by the growing national alarm over the problems of inattentive driving, primarily the potentially deadly practice of text messaging while driving, a practice seen as common among young adults.

One of the opening day’s hot topics was whether hands-free devices really do make cell phone use by drivers safer. Another discussion looked at the the difficulties faced by law officers trying to determine if drivers are texting.

One expert called text messaging while driving “the perfect storm that brings together visual, manual and cognitive demands.”

On Thursday, LaHood plans to unveil the steps his DOT will take to address the distracted driving crisis.

Still, “You can’t legislate behavior,” LaHood said. “Taking personal responsibility for our actions is the key.”

The public is invited to view the summit online and to submit questions for the panelists. View the page for the distracted driving webcast.

The summit was inspired by the growing national alarm over the problems of inattentive driving, primarily the potentially deadly practice of text messaging while driving, a practice seen as common among young adults.

The public is invited to view the summit online and to submit questions for the panelists. View the page for the distracted driving webcast.

The DOT will issue a series of actions to deal with the crisis once it hears from the gathering of senior transportation officials, safety advocates, law enforcement representatives, members of Congress and academics who study distracted driving.

The DOT outlined the two-day summit’s agenda like so:

Day 1: A context setting panel where participants will examine the scope of the issue and the various distractions that exist, followed by a panel that will review currently available research. The day wraps with an examination of distractions caused by technology and efforts made to assess and reduce negative effects caused by current and planned devices. Panelists will also consider technology that can prevent the consequences of driver distraction.

Day 2: A review of legislative and regulatory approaches for dealing with distracted driving; evaluations of the impact of such measures; and enforcement issues. Members of Congress and their staff will also have the opportunity to contribute to the discussion. The day concludes with a discussion with teens about their experiences with distracted driving followed by an examination of various public awareness initiatives and research regarding the effectiveness of these efforts.

“The public is sick and tired of people being distracted and causing accidents,” DOT chief Ray LaHood said at an early August press conference announcing the federal summit. “We all know texting while driving is dangerous and we are going to do something about it so that responsible drivers don’t have to worry about it when they or a loved one get on the road.”

Read the full agenda for the distracted driving summit.