Her son, Carter, was taken to an area hospital where exhaustive resuscitative efforts were performed, but he was basically dead upon arrival, said Chilton County Coroner Randy Yeargan.
Did Coleman have her mind on driving, the task at hand, when the crash occurred? Evidence at the scene indicates she was focused on something else:
An investigation showed Coleman was texting while driving when she lost control of her car.
Authorities said Friday her phone activity showed she had been having a text conversation for about two or three minutes before the crash and still had a message on the screen that she had typed but not yet sent when they recovered the phone after the crash.
What would it take to bring distracted driving under control? First, we need laws to make it unlawful to talk on a cell phone or text while driving a vehicle. And the laws need serious teeth; minimal fines aren't going to cut it. I would suggest a three-month suspension of a driver's license for a first offense, six months for a second, and one year for a third.
We have addressed this subject in previous posts, noting that both the U.S. Senate and the Alabama Legislature have tried to pass bills on driving and texting. So far, they have failed. Bills to outlaw driving while talking on a cell phone apparently cannot even be discussed.
State Rep. Jim McClendon (R.-Springville) has led the effort to fight distracted driving in Alabama. How difficult has it been? His measures have failed five times, and this summary pretty much sums up the hurdles involved.
If there is any positive out of the Randreaita Coleman story, it's this: At least she did not kill another driver. But think about her infant son, who barely had a chance to live. Was his mother's text message really that important?
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