Breaking News Black Friday Tragedy : Disturbing Video

OThers bloggers are turning their attention away from India and onto the "Black Friday Tragedy" that killed Jdimytai Damour of Jamaica, Queens.

This is a very disturbing Video (Hattip: Anderson Cooper 360)

Newsday has a story about the kind of guy Jdimytai was. A gentle giant of Haitian roots he grew up on Long Island. He was the kind of guy who loved poetry and his family.

Money quote from his distraught father: "I don't know what happened to him. He's gone. Only God knows what happened to him," said his father, Ogera Charles.

Avvo.com Legal Guides: A Few Quick Articles to Help You Navigate the Legal System

I have been publishing legal guides at www.Avvo.com. I thought I would give you a way to link to my Publications there and also link you to some good articles by others on AVVO.com.

Avvo.com offers two types of Legal Guides. The easiest to publish is the How to Guide. I have published a couple of those.
You can find out How to Determine Your USSG Criminal Sentencing Guideline in what was my first Practice Guide.

You can learn How to Help a Friend Who is Arrested in the Middle of the Night. (Actually any time.)

Then I wrote an article entitled How To Conduct Yourself When Involved in a Car Accident

My Latest Legal Guide for AVVO.com is entitled Understanding New York Statutory Rape Laws: The Age of Consent

Periodically I will update you on other guides I am publishing, and will feature a few guides that others have written. Take a look at these, I think you will learn a lot.

"I Am Shocked, Shocked! There are Teens Texting While Driving in Casablanca!!

I love that movie... and that line.
Anyway, no big surprise here, but I am following up with the post I had a few days ago on Suffolk County NY's decision to ban Texting while Driving or as we Criminal Defense Lawyers like to call it TWI. Nassau County is about to go along and I think that we will see a NYS VTL Law to this effect shortly.

I am in agreement with the law. It no surprise (as I said earlier) that teens are the biggest offenders (almost half admit to texting while driving and over 25% of drivers between 24-35 also admit to doing that) or that as you get older, you have less texting as we "old folk" are less tech savvy.

I am a bit worried about cell phones which are so ubiquitous will become a pretext for stopping cars, but the fact that the phone and the cell provider can prove phone usage may help keep pretext stops in check (defense lawyers and civil libertarians are going to have to fight these cases and win to ensure that such abuse is kept in check.)

I think this TWI law is only half of the answer to the problem of distraction behind the wheel. I am afraid that to get the other half, Personal Injury Lawyers are going to have to get involved and sue the big Cell companies to force them to order that cell phones offer hands free texting. Believe me the technology is there (witness Jott.com one of the best ideas ever. If I can record my voice for Jott to turn into an e-mail, I can record my voice to send a text message or a tweet or the next big thing.) It is just a matter of time before the cell companies demand that it be available on an I-phone or Blackberry.

In the meantime, I suggest that teens either but the cell phone on a blue tooth or in hands free mode, and ignore the text messages. Pulling over to text could be dangerous and I doubt too many young people will pull off a road to text safely.

Remember, You do need two eyes for the road, and both hands on the wheel. Teens don't have much experience to begin with behind the wheel, add distraction and you have a recipe for disaster. It is only slightly less dangerous for more experienced drivers. I have seen drivers put on makeup, read maps and even read books while driving. Distractions can kill. We all do it, but we need to make a concerted effort to do it less and ultimately to not do it at all.

I have been trying all week. I have reduced my bad cell phone habits quite a bit in one week. I am thinking that next week I will tell the important people in my life I am driving, that I will call in every hour while on the road (and I will pull off for that) and everyone else will have to wait until I call in. Then I am going to forward my phones and turn off the Twitter tweets. I'd ask you to wish me luck, but I'd rather you just join me...