What does it take for people to get the message that they shouldn’t be texting while driving? Apparently, hitting someone and leavng them brain dead.
On Sunday night a 19-year-old girl in Brooklyn was texting while driving when she struck a Chinese restaurant deliveryman on a scooter, according to reports in several New York City papers.
Tian Sheng Lin, 53, was in critical condition with severe head trauma after being hit by a Toyota Camry driven by Nechama Rothberger. A story in the New York Post said that Lin had been declared brain dead at Kings County Hospital.
Rothberger was arrested, and charged with a misdemeanor, reckless driving, and issued a violation for driving while using a cellphone. Police at the accident scene had found her mobile phone with a partial message written on it.
Lin, who has three children, worked for the Best China Restaurant, which is located only a few blocks from where the accident took place.
Rothberger’s lawyer told reporters that Rothberger had not struck Lin on purpose, that it was all an accident.
Yes, an accident by someone who was reckless and stupid enough to be texting while driving. I’m sure that Lin’s family will be comforted by the lawyer’s explanation.