Results tagged “texting”

Transportation is a big problem in Massachusetts. Let's recap, shall we? We have traffic, of course, texting trolley drivers, tunnels that kill people, government officials more interested in a feud than what commuters pay for public transportation, near collisions at the airport, a rash of crashes with older drivers.

Before there was texting, we lived in a world filled with proper grammar and safety in public transportation. Now, in 2009, the Wall Street Journal - of all places - is giving us a primer on the correct terminology to use while texting. Well, the advice on investing gig didn't end well, did it? The article suggests the increasing prominence of social networking sites like Twitter and Facebook has made texting ubiqutous. Kids use abbreviations to talk in a code parents don't get. Parents are learning terms kids use in order to keep tabs on kids. Texting shorthand is also seeping into work communication more and more. The Journal refers to sites like NetLingo.com that define terms like HBASTD (Hitting Bottom And Starting To Dig) for texters. Merriam-Webster Dictionary is now defining a term like OMG.

On June 1st last year, the National Transportation Safety Board recreated last May's green line crash in order to gain more insight into what happened that fateful day. More than a year later, the board has released its report, which indicates that the car's driver ran through a properly functioning signal en route to the crash. While driver Terrese Edmonds' train did run a working signal, the crash was caused by hitting a train stopped at a malfunctioning signal. This broken signal had been stuck on red for some time; investigators found that broken track section connections were the cause of the perpetual stop sign.

After Friday night's texting-caused crash and yesterday's investigation by the National Transportation Safety Board, the Green Line is back in business at Government Center. As of this morning, trains were running as normal through the station.

The Globe reports that the driver in today's Green Line crash at Government Center was texting while driving, or T operating. Texting, or at least cell phone use, was also blamed in last summer's Green Line crash on the D line that killed the driver.

Bostonist can't resist the lingo of the BPD Blotter!

As it becomes more likely that the use of handheld gadgets while driving will be banned, the Globe tossed out a thought worth debating--if drivers are still allowed to use headsets, will they drive better? Or is the mere act of talking the problem?

The House voted 107-47 to ban the use of handheld gadgets while driving. Using a headset is OK, but anyone caught with a gadget in hand will be fined $100.

The Joint Committee on Transportation has approved a bill that bans the use of using a handheld gadget while driving, and the Massachusetts House of Representatives will vote on the bill next, the Globe reports.

After a man texting behind the wheel struck and killed a Taunton teenager, some legislators would like to introduce a bill that bans texting while driving.

--Craig Bigos, who hit a teenager while driving in Taunton, took off, and later surrendered to police, admitted that he was texting while driving. He initially thought the 13-year-old he hit was a mailbox. [Boston Globe]