Texting While Driving? Message Sent from Driver's Phone
Records show text message exchange around time of crash that killed 5 teens.
CANANDAIGUA, N.Y., July 13, 2007 — -- This story was reported by ABC News affiliate WHAM-TV in Rochester, N.Y.
Texting while driving may have played a role in last month's crash that killed five recent Fairport High School graduates.
"Cell phones are a distraction and could be a contributing cause in this accident," said Ontario County Sheriff Philip Povero.
The teens were on their way to a Keuka Lake cottage when their sport utility vehicle swerved into the path of an oncoming tractor trailer.
Bailey Goodman, 17, was driving and Sara Monnat was in the front passenger seat. Both were wearing seat belts. Meredith McClure, Hannah Congdon, and Katie Shirley were in the back seat and not wearing seat belts. All of the teens died on impact.
The crash happened June 26 on Routes 5 and 20 in East Bloomfield, Ontario County.
Sheriff Povero said Bailey overcorrected after passing another car. Speed may have been a factor, as the SUV was going 60 miles per hour on impact. The SUV was pushed 138 feet by the force of the crash.
Seconds before the crash, Bailey received a text message on her cell phone.
Her phone was used to send a text message to a friend who lives in the Canandaigua area at 10:05:02. That friend text messaged her back at 10:06:29. Thirty-eight seconds later, at 10:07:07, the first call came into 911 reporting the accident.
"The records indicate her phone was in use. We will never be able to clearly state she was the one doing the text messaging," said Sheriff Povero.
The airbag module was destroyed by fire. It is a black box-type device that would have said how fast the SUV was going and whether Bailey applied the brakes before the crash.
There were nine eyewitnesses to the crash -- the tractor trailer driver, the driver of the car Bailey passed and his passenger, four of the teens' friends in a car following them, and two people in a car following the tractor trailer.
The sheriff identified the driver of the Mercury Sable Bailey passed as Michael Short, 21, of Honeoye Falls. Sheriff Povero said he slowed down and pulled to the right to allow her to safely pass. The pass began in a legal passing zone, but ended in a no-passing zone.
