Tuesday 30 December 2008

Texting kills

A motorist sent a string of text messages moments before she ploughed into a car and killed its driver, a court heard yesterday. Philippa Curtis had taken off her shoes and was driving in her socks while rushing to see her boyfriend when she made two illegal calls and sent more than 20 messages. In one of the texts, the waitress bragged about serving singer Dina Carroll at the restaurant where she worked.Travelling at 70mph, she crashed into the back of a broken down Fiat Punto, killing 24-year-old Victoria McBryde, who was waiting by the side of the road for a car recovery service.

Meanwhile the streets of Waltham Forest are crammed with drivers chatting on handheld mobiles, to the almost complete indifference of the Metropolitan Police and Commander Mark Benbow. Here’s a few potential killers whose details I jotted down:

10 December: EY07 YMF white van, male, 2.15pm Hoe St
11 December: Hoe Street, 11.55, Peugeot 547 MLP, female driver
19 December: Larkshall Road E4, black 4X4 reg. V7 AKD, 11.24 am, male driver
20 December: X107 CNO Mercedes, male driver, 12.40 am Cleveland Park Avenue E17, White van man M483 UPY 1.20 pm Lea Bridge Road, KM03 LKP silver 4X4 male driver, Lea Bridge Road 1.55 pm, BMW reg LG56 XKP woman driver 2.08 pm Palmerston Road E17, Male driver, GV03 UJN, Hoe Street, 2.18 pm