Safe Speed Forums

I believe that the greatest single reason that it doesn't work is because the authorities have blown their credibility - they are giving us road safety messages that we simply don't believe.

Coupled with a reliance on cameras that can't prevent people from using their phone; in this instance.

I wonder how many speed cameras she passed while she was texting?

Text driver locked up for death crash

FATAL COLLISION: Rachel Begg
A TEENAGE driver who sent a text message on her mobile phone moments before she crashed into another car at 70mph and killed a grandmother has been locked up for four years.

Rachel Begg, who admitted causing death by dangerous driving at an earlier hearing, had been using her phone only seconds before she crashed into 64-year-old Maureen Waites' hatchback.

The victim, a hairdresser from Wingate, County Durham, was on her way to pick up her sister, Paula, from Newcastle Airport last November when the accident happened.

Begg, a 19-year-old bank worker, sobbed as she was sentenced at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday to four years in a young offenders' institution for causing the late-night crash, which occurred near the airport on the A696 dual carriageway.

The court heard that Mrs Waites' Citroen was hit from behind by Begg's VW Polo and smashed into a crash barrier, killing the mother-of-two instantly.

Begg, who had been visiting a friend in Newcastle, was driving to her home in Whinbank, Ponteland, and, the court heard, used her phone nine times in 15 minutes to send and receive calls and texts.

Robert Woodcock, prosecuting, said: "Her eyes cannot have been on the road ahead, for if they had been, she would have seen Mrs Waites. Her eyes must have been cast down, and having sent the last message, she realised she was horrifically close to Mrs Waites, and probably panicked."

The court heard that Begg had held a driving licence for 18 months and had no previous convictions.

Judge John Milford, who banned Begg from driving for five years, said: "The cause of this accident was that you had failed to see her until it was too late, for the simple reason you had been sending a text message to your male friend.

"To send a text message is even more perilous when the message is at night in a darkened car."

Begg, who was intending to study to become an accountant and worked for the HSBC Bank in Gosforth, Newcastle, was given glowing references by colleagues and former teachers at Ponteland High School.

Robert Adams, in mitigation, told the court that Begg was extremely remorseful for the crash and had suffered post-traumatic stress and nightmares.

He said: "This was a terrible tragedy. Rachel Begg knows and recognises it was entirely her fault."

But the devastated family of Mrs Waites, a devoted mother-of-two, said the teenager had shown no remorse.

After the hearing, Mrs Waites' daughter, Helen Adams, a 38-year-old solicitor from Hartlepool, said: "As a family, we are saddened that a 19-year-old girl has been given a term of imprisonment. However, she has shown no remorse or any form of sympathy for our loss.

"The sentence does not reflect the fact that she has taken our mother's life, which was wholly avoidable.

"We sincerely hope that lessons will be learnt from this sentence.

"People must stop using mobile phones while driving.

"The consequences can be fatal, and it causes nothing other than heartbreak."

Mrs Waites, who owned a hair salon in Shotton Colliery, east Durham, had been with her 74-year-old husband, George, for almost 50 years.

Mrs Adams said: "My father has not been able to attend court and is a broken man after the death of his wife.

"We will never get over this, and it does not end today for us.

"We have to get up in the morning and try to get on with life. We will continue to love, mourn and miss for the rest of our lives."

Sergeant Ian Dey, of Northumbria Police, said: "This crash has devastated the lives of two families and will have a major impact on them for the rest of their lives.

"One family has lost a much-loved wife, mother and grandmother, the other has to face the consequences of a young woman spending four years in a young offender's institution.

"Research has proven that using a mobile telephone while driving is just as bad as someone drinking and driving. Using your mobile while driving is inexcusable, and those who do so are simply not appreciating the consequences of their actions."

In February, the penalty for using a mobile phone while driving was increased to £60 with three penalty points. Since then, more than 1,000 notices have been issued by Northumbria Police, while Durham Police issued just under 350 tickets between March and May

After the hearing, Mrs Waites' daughter, Helen Adams, a 38-year-old solicitor from Hartlepool, said: "As a family, we are saddened that a 19-year-old girl has been given a term of imprisonment. However, she has shown no remorse or any form of sympathy for our loss.

Begg, who was intending to study to become an accountant and worked for the HSBC Bank in Gosforth, Newcastle, was given glowing references by colleagues and former teachers at Ponteland High School.

Rachel Begg, 19, of Whinbank in Ponteland, admitted sending the message shortly before the collision on the A696, near Newcastle Airport.

Or was the evidence that she Had been texting and driving Prior to the accident simply used as a stick to beat her with by the prosecution in order to present her in a bad light??

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/6908710.stm

Text death driver gets four years

A teenage driver who caused the death of a woman in a crash as she sent a mobile phone text message has been sent to a young offenders' institute.

Rachel Begg, 19, of Whinbank in Ponteland, admitted sending the message shortly before the collision on the A696, near Newcastle Airport.

Maureen Waites, 64, from Wellfield Road North in Wingate died in the crash.

Begg had earlier pleaded guilty to a charge of dangerous driving and received a four-year sentence.