Irate driver rams fellow motorist due to cellphone use
By Darren Murph 
posted Feb 22nd 2007 6:40PM
posted Feb 22nd 2007 6:40PM
You should already know that the Grand Canyon State isn't exactly kosher with rampant tailgating, so actually ramming someone's vehicle due to a personal conflict you have with them isn't likely to get you a whole lot of mercy. Subsequently, a 58-year old male is facing jail time due to his inability to turn the other cheek when he drove up on another motorist who was casually yapping on their cellphone. Rather than simply signing to hang up or doing nothing at all, Mr. Asselin felt it was in both of their best interests if they had a verbal exchange whilst cruising down the avenue, and to make matters worse, the curiously enraged driver reportedly ran the talker into oncoming traffic where the cellphone-using victim narrowly escaped death. Notably, several witnessed deemed the whole event akin to something we'd see "in a movie," but unless you've got Transporter-like skills, we wouldn't recommend trying to reenact this in your home state, no matter your feelings on driving while connected.[Via Fark]
Throw the book at the douchebag. Talking on the phone while driving is inconsiderate and dangerous, but that pales against driving someone off the road.
This epidemic of "self-entitlement" needs to stop.
Is that Anthony Hopkins ?
its his evil twin Tony Hopkins out to ruin his brothers good rep
Dad?
I blame video games, as he obviously has recently been playing Burnout Revenge.
I hope the talker goes to PMITA prison.
The other guy deserves a medal.
Ha!
OWNED!
Like we all haven't felt like that on occasion?
And, please do not tell me that this guy just went off because he saw the other driver talking on the cell phone. I would bet the farm that there was some kind of infraction prior to that.
Even complete and total lunatics have a trigger.
"Even complete and total lunatics have a trigger."
Unfortunately sometimes that trigger is oxygen.
lol...Mr. Ass. lol
I give him props, I dont know how many times I've wanted to do this...the only thing that stops me is I dont want to dent up my ride.
He doesn't deserve jail time...just a slap on the wrist.
when I see some going 55 in a 75 because there talking on there phone...the first thing I do it cut them off leaving mere inches between my car and theres.
(its just how I roll)
"when I see some going 55 in a 75 because there talking on there phone..."
That would be "their" phone - not "there." Learn to spell techno-hater.
not only is "there" supposed to be "their", but the other "there" should really be "they're"...as in "they are". Learn your th(ere,eir,ey're)s
Marc - You cut them off? That makes you much more dangerous than the person talking on the phone.
wow,
and i live less then a mile away from where that happened
"Even complete and total lunatics have a trigger."
I was followed home once by a driver who THOUGHT he was right and I was wrong when I did not yield, despite the fact that I had the right of way. When I got home, he got out of his car and started telling me what an idiot I am for failing to yield. The man was a psycho. So, I called the police, they paid him a visit and explained to him that he was wrong on all accounts AND that he's an idiot.
is it really your place to correct other's speeeling? douchebag
I bet that the "victim" won't be yapping on his phone while driving anytime soon!
It would be cool if we got regular reports on just how many people are killed or injured by stupid phoning drivers daily. It amazes me that supposedly intelligent people can't grasp that they're already piss poor divers to start with, and that using a phone while driving is bordering on criminal. Wake up, dummies.
This guy is a fucking toolshed.
I am shocked at all the people *supporting* Mr. Asselin in this matter! This guy *rammed another vehicle* and forced it into oncoming traffic, an action which could have potentially caused the deaths of the person(s) in the rammed vehicle and any other vehicles which might have hit it. Even then, he *fled the scene*. It's a miracle that a larger accident didn't happen.
Mr. Asselin deserves to be put in prison for that: He's proved himself to be a greater danger to surrounding traffic than the cellphone-talking victim.
wow, I talk up a pall mall on my cell phone. I do that while managing to maintain 140+ mph trough 'traffic' ( ok, its very light traffic, but when your going that fast, you pass cars like they were parked :P ). I think I went over my minutes by like $200 last month. I guess that'd really piss this guy off. but whatever, people like that try to chase me on occasion, last idiot who did it actually slid off a highway ramp.
Maybe he just wanted to eat her liver with some fava beans.
yes, I believe it is, as long as he gets the corrections right
i'm all about spelling corrections. please let me know - it will prevent me from doing it again and more importantly at a time it may matter.
I tried reading this aloud to my wife - almost a tongue twister - maybe focus on writing sentences, not on making links?
i agree, if you're going to correct someone, at least do it fully and correctly
I get frustrated when others are on the phone and the road at the same time. Even though cell phones may seem extremely dangerous, it's been proven that listening to the radio can be just as dangerous. I thought that sounded absurd, but I drive with no radio/phone anyway. I do use a GPS though, but I use it safely. Seriously, some drivers out there deserve to get run off the road, but doing it to them myself is a bit extreme. A middle finger seems to get the message across well enough.
"it's been proven that listening to the radio can be just as dangerous"
"proven" By who?
Also, I gave you the finger for using your GPS but you too busy frigging with it to notice.
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20070129/100818.shtml
That's just one of the studies, there are many of them that prove that multitasking in general is dangerous. Then of course there's this study:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,201586,00.html
About the GPS.. I don't watch it, I listen for audio cues and just glance at it before it asks me to turn. I hardly ever interface with it while driving, because this is extremely dangerous. If I have to change where I'm going, or the view, I will stop on the side of the road to do so. I also stop on the side of the road to accept or make cell phone calls.
i personally hate people who talk on the phone and drive. worst offender ive seen was a woman, barely viewable, driving a, i kid you not, excursion 70+ mph in south carolina. sure its south carolina, but come on!
i personally think drivers here in the states are awful, especially in the south, but whatever. this guy was in the wrong but i personally become annoyed when someone is driving in the left lane 10mph below the speed limit while everyone is manuevering around them. i mean, get a hint.
This guy needs to be put in a psych ward.
And the first thing on my list will be to immediately quadruple the amount of time I spend on the phone while driving.
And I'm gonna dedicate it to all the road-rage-aholics. Wheeeeeeeee!
Get some help!
Talking on the phone with a BT earpiece and messaging on a second device, while listening to music and toggling between watching GPS, TV, and a DVD movie on three different screens and browsing the internet and playing Xbox on a fourth, drinking coffee, shaving in the mirror and steering with my legs, all while recording a podcast and navigating busy freeways and city streets at 70 mph.
Yeah, now that's how you drive!
This guy deserves to be jailed for what he did, but I'm sure a lot of people feel sympathy for him at the same time. I've no idea why nationwide bans on cellphone usage while driving have yet to be set.
If the moron on the phone had more respect for the other people on the road this could have all been avoided. I'm sure most of us here have been in a rush at one time or another only to be slowed down my some airhead cell phone talking moron. Don't remember? Just think back about a week ago while driving in the left lane. OK!
His action was very drastic. But It was induced. Fact is some people don't give a shit about anyone when they're on their phone behind the wheel on the road. That's mean you and I. God knows I've been tempted a few times to do the same as Mr Asselin.
@Steve Dickenson
Uh, no.
This is not the fault of someone talking on a cell phone. This is 100% Mr. Asselin's fault. Asselin's actions were NOT induced. What Asselin did is NOT what normal, healthy people do to find resolution to what may be perceived as an irritant. Asselin had a serious psychological problem. And you're making excuses for it - for inexcusable behavior. Running someone off the road into oncoming traffic and almost killing them because they were talking on a cell phone is not justifiable in ANY sense of the word. There's a reason why HE'S going to PRISON. Get it? Perhaps you're in need of some help, too.
If you're finding yourself so enraged that you're even daydreaming or considering doing what Asselin did because someone is merely talking on a cell phone or simply not driving fast enough for your liking (poor baby), you need help. And this is true, because this rage starts from somewhere, and Asselin is a perfect example of what happens when you don't deal with it before it's too late.
There have been more accidents caused by people screwing around with their radio, putting on makeup, eating, etc, than there have been caused by cell phone usage while driving. There was a list of the top ten reasons for car accidents and cell phone was down around #7.
"Good evening, Clarice." ;)
Maybe it's just me, but I feel it is safer to talk on the cell phone while driving. Can you imagine how tedious it is to drive 800 miles of farmland with no one to talk to and keep your mind working? My cell phone has proven invalueable for long stretches of highway.