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DOT bars bus drivers and commercial truckers from texting while driving
It's coming. And soon. Of course, you know darn well we're referring to the day where no human in any nation can text and drive legally, and we're seeing the US Department of Transportation get us one step closer with its latest mandate. Effective immediately, bus drivers and interstate commercial truckers are disallowed from texting while operating a motor vehicle, and should they choose to send that one last SMS anyway, they'll be hit with "civil or criminal fines of up to $2,750." Needless to say, the Advocates for Highway Safety are pretty stoked about the notion, but they confess that this isn't taking things far enough. And for anyone who has been sideswiped by someone special telling someone more special "I LUVRZ U XOXO LOL" while doing 80 on the I-15, well, they'd probably concur.
Cobra to launch five-inch GPS device, another for truckers
While most of the recent attention pointed at Cobra has been in regard to its controversial red-light camera / radar detector, the firm is purportedly looking to bust out another navigation unit before the year's end. While the nitty gritty details are scant, the firm is slated to unveil a five-inch personal navigation device (PND) during 2007, but a concrete release date wasn't given. Additionally, a trucker-centric rendition that presumably offers up every truck stop in the continental US as a POI should follow suit once "new software from TeleAtlas" is available for use. Interestingly, the company insinuated that offering "niche PND products" was one way for it to avoid competing with the smorgasbord of other options strictly on price, but unless this elusive device packs some seriously off-the-wall features that we're not aware of, entering the already saturated five-inch GPS market won't be a cakewalk.[Via GPS Tracklog]
Tow driver takes Playstation 3 from fatal wreck
According to New Jersey state police, a tow truck driver admits to stealing a Playstation 3, controller and PS2 game out of a car involved in a fatal crash in January. The car, which overturned for an "unknown reason," killed 11-month-old Brianna Dastine. Thomas J. Brunell III was called to bring the car back to state police barracks for investigation, he entered the 1998 Nissan Quest minivan and apparently took the items before leaving the minivan at the police station. The police noticed the items were missing while doing a check of the vehicle's contents.Brunell, 34, who works for Rossnagles Service Center, has been suspended until he is cleared of the charges. Pat Rossnagle, co-owner of the company says, "If he did it, this is dead wrong. If he didn't, let's find out who did it ... over 40 years (in business) and we never had this problem, never had a question -- ever."
