This originally just went into my linklog, but considering my previous rant, I wanted to follow up on this one. The Alaskan driver accused of killing two people due to watching a DVD while driving has been acquitted.
A man was acquitted Tuesday of charges he caused a fatal crash by taking his eyes off the road while watching a movie on a DVD player mounted on his truck dashboard.
Jurors acquitted Erwin Petterson Jr., 29, of two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of manslaughter. No law in Alaska prohibits operating a DVD player in view of a driver.
[…]
Stein argued that Petterson and his passenger Jonathan Douglas were watching a DVD movie when Petterson’s pickup truck crossed the center line, hitting the Weisers’ sport utility vehicle head-on. Petterson testified he was not watching a movie and that his truck strayed into oncoming traffic when he reached for a soda.
The Weisers died at the scene.
Marty Zoda, Douglas’ former wife, testified that her ex-husband told her the DVD was running when the accident happened, a claim Douglas denied.
If installed as recommended, DVD players will not work in an automobile unless the emergency brake is on or the vehicle is in park. Prosecutors said Petterson overrode those safety measures when he installed an entertainment system including a DVD player, speakers and a Sony PlayStation 2 in his pickup truck.
All my sympathies go out to the families of the people killed.
I stand by my previous rant, too. Pay attention to the road.
iTunes: “Dancing With Myself (Original 12″)\” by Generation X from the album Devolution: Alternative Rock Classics 1975-1985 (1981, 5:58).