Female Redlight Runner Causes Crash when She Uses Her Cell-phone
09/12/2008 Peoria
Peoria police officials said they want to remind drivers of not only the distractions of cell phones, but of all the distractions while driving and the dangers they cause.
Police have released the following list of other distractions that can lead to collisions:
Text messaging or using other electronic devices such as laptops
Eating
Shaving or putting on make-up
Reading
Being overly involved in conversations or the radio talk show
Feeding babies
Talking to kids in back seat
Singing and "dancing" to the music.
This crash happened at 75th Avenue and Thunderbird Road when an SUV failed to stop for a red light, and collided with a pick-up truck making a left turn.
The red light enforcement camera at the intersection captured the collision, and in the photo, the driver of the SUV can clearly be seen talking on her cell phone.
A second crash happened on the same day near 72nd Avenue and Peoria Avenue.
Police said while reaching down to pick-up his cell phone, the driver of a Toyota pickup truck lost control and hit an irrigation gate before colliding with a live power pole.
That pole then snapped and fell on his truck.
The driver is doing just fine, but Mike Tellef, Peoria Police Spokesman said, “he’s lucky he’s alive”.
The driver was also not wearing a seatbelt.
Both crashes happened just over a year after police said 18-year-old Ashley Miller hit and killed 40-year-old Stacey Stubbs in a head-on crash while texting on her cell phone.
