Texting While Driving Bills In Georgia Legislature

ATLANTA - "He loved life," says Caleb Sorohan's grandmother, "He had a very infectious smile, lots of friends and it was just a tragic loss for all of us."

Sallie Sorohan of Dahlonega has turned grief over the death of her 18-year-old grandson into a crusade to save others.

Nine days before Christmas, the college freshman's car crossed the centerline of a rural Morgan County road while he was texting.

"He apparently was busy with his hands not on the wheel and ran into a truck that was transporting six or seven horses and was killed instantly," his grandmother tells 11 Alive News.

Georgia State Troopers found Caleb's cell phone in his lap, showing that he'd sent or received six text messages in the last seven minutes of his life.

"His grandmother asked me to introduce this particular bill," says State Representative Amos Amerson.

The Dahlonega lawmaker has now been joined by fellow Republican Representative Allen Peake of Macon who believe it's become a dangerous crisis on our roads.

"It's an extreme hazard," Rep. Peake tells 11 Alive News, "and empirical studies have shown that while you're texting while driving it's more dangerous and you're more distracted than even while you're drunk."

The lawmakers' bills propose fines of anywhere from $100 to $300, primarily to get everyone's attention.

They know it'll be tough to enforce, but Caleb's grandmother thinks it's worth doing.

"We don't want any other parents or friends or family to have to go through the agony that we have been through with this untimely death of such a wonderful young man," she adds.

Just this week, a study by the National Safety Council estimated that 28% of traffic accidents occur while drivers are talking on cell phones or texting.

If the bills about to be introduced in this year's General Assembly pass, Georgia would become the 20th state to outlaw driving while texting.

In addition to pushing for the law, Caleb Sorohan's family has set up a scholarship fund for students at Morgan County High School.


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Georgia woman, 25, killed in Oconee County 1-car crash

A 25-year-old Georgia woman died after being involved in a one-vehicle accident early Monday morning.

Oconee County Coroner Karl Addis confirmed Monday that Nicole Kristy Hartney was pronounced dead at the scene of an early morning accident on U.S. 76.

Hartney was traveling east on 76 in her 2000 Jeep Cherokee at roughly 2:30 a.m. when she lost control of the vehicle. The jeep went off the right side of the road, back onto the roadway, and overturned several times off the left side of the highway before coming to a stop there, Cpl. Bryan McDougald of the South Carolina Highway Patrol said.

The posted speed limit on that stretch of highway is 45 miles per hour, but the role of speed in the crash is being investigated, McDougald added.

Hartney, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the vehicle during the rollover, and died at the scene from chest and head trauma prior to EMS arrival, Addis said.

A passerby saw the accident and reported it.

Hartney’s hometown was Alpharetta, Ga., and she graduated from the University of Alabama in 2006 with a degree in communications, according to an online social networking Web site.

No autopsy is scheduled for Hartney, but in accordance with state law, specimens for toxicology analysis will be sent to the South Carolina Law Enforcement, Addis said.


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