cjcj
New member
Police: Text messaging to blame for fatal accident
Brent Whiting
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 14, 2007 12:20 PM
A traffic crash that claimed two lives was blamed Tuesday by Peoria police on an 18-year-old Glendale girl who was text-messaging on her cell phone while driving.
The death of the girl and the other victim, a 40-year-old Chino Valley woman, serve as a tragic reminder that operating a motor vehicle requires 100 percent of a motorist's attention, said Mike Tellef, a Peoria police spokesman.
Drivers should never send text messages on cell phones, or any other electronic device, while behind the wheel, he said.
“We should also be very careful about talking to passengers, singing with the radio, eating food or doing any other activity that could draw your attention away from the roadway and other vehicles,” Tellef said.
Stacey A. Stubbs, 40, was killed about 3:30 p.m. Monday in a head-on traffic crash on Lake Pleasant Parkway, north of Jomax Road, in far north Peoria, Tellef said.
Investigators have determined Ashley D. Miller was behind the wheel of a white Ford Ranger pickup truck when it crossed the center line and collided with a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser driven by Stubbs, who was pronounced dead at the scene, Tellef said.
“The roadway in the area of the collision is one lane in each direction and was coming over a small crest in the roadway before dropping down,” Tellef said.
Miller, who was ejected from her vehicle, was transported to a Valley hospital where she died about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, he said.
She is expected to be mourned by classmates at Cactus High School in Glendale, where she graduated last year, said Jim Cummings, a spokesman for the Peoria Unified School District.
According to investigators, Millers' pickup drifted across the center line because Miller was text-messaging on her cell phone immediately prior to the collision.
Investigators made that determination while checking her cell phone for emergency contact numbers, Tellef said.
They found a text message that was sent at 3:31 p.m., the same time as the head-on
Brent Whiting
The Arizona Republic
Aug. 14, 2007 12:20 PM
A traffic crash that claimed two lives was blamed Tuesday by Peoria police on an 18-year-old Glendale girl who was text-messaging on her cell phone while driving.
The death of the girl and the other victim, a 40-year-old Chino Valley woman, serve as a tragic reminder that operating a motor vehicle requires 100 percent of a motorist's attention, said Mike Tellef, a Peoria police spokesman.
Drivers should never send text messages on cell phones, or any other electronic device, while behind the wheel, he said.
“We should also be very careful about talking to passengers, singing with the radio, eating food or doing any other activity that could draw your attention away from the roadway and other vehicles,” Tellef said.
Stacey A. Stubbs, 40, was killed about 3:30 p.m. Monday in a head-on traffic crash on Lake Pleasant Parkway, north of Jomax Road, in far north Peoria, Tellef said.
Investigators have determined Ashley D. Miller was behind the wheel of a white Ford Ranger pickup truck when it crossed the center line and collided with a silver Chrysler PT Cruiser driven by Stubbs, who was pronounced dead at the scene, Tellef said.
“The roadway in the area of the collision is one lane in each direction and was coming over a small crest in the roadway before dropping down,” Tellef said.
Miller, who was ejected from her vehicle, was transported to a Valley hospital where she died about 9:40 a.m. Tuesday, he said.
She is expected to be mourned by classmates at Cactus High School in Glendale, where she graduated last year, said Jim Cummings, a spokesman for the Peoria Unified School District.
According to investigators, Millers' pickup drifted across the center line because Miller was text-messaging on her cell phone immediately prior to the collision.
Investigators made that determination while checking her cell phone for emergency contact numbers, Tellef said.
They found a text message that was sent at 3:31 p.m., the same time as the head-on
