Do we need a lawsuit to tell us that talking on a cell phone while driving could be dangerous?

Apparently, the answer may be yes.  20-year-old Christopher Hill chatted on his Sprint Nextel phone while driving his Ford pickup through Oklahoma City.   Distracted, he ran a red light at full speed, killing an innocent motorist, 61-year-old Linda Doyle. 

Hill acknowledged to the police that he was consumed by a phone call, and the victim’s family is rightfully outraged.  This sort of carelessness shouldn’t end an innocent person’s life, but unfortunately, it did. 

There are a number of ways in which Ms. Doyle’s family can use this tragedy to honor her life.  Ms. Doyle’s family could lobby for stricter sentencing in cases of vehicular homicide.  They could lead efforts to prohibit the use of cell phones while operating a vehicle.  They could even spearhead public awareness campaigns in high schools and colleges, and perhaps prevent another tragedy from occurring. 

Instead, Ms. Doyle’s family has decided to sue – not sue Hill, but Sprint Nextel and Samsung. 

Ms. Doyle’s family argues that both the cell phone provider and manufacturer should have warned users that driving while using the device could be dangerous.  Yes, this would be in the instructions that most of us, including Hill, don’t read in the first place.   It’s telling that they aren’t suing the person who was ultimately responsible for taking their loved one’s life through negligence, but marginally-involved large companies instead.  Surprisingly, the Doyle family hasn’t filed suit against Ford – yet.