When we hear about distracted driving, most think of teenagers texting or distracting movies or someone putting on makeup or even an errant cheeseburger wrapper. We don't often think about billion-dollar cruise ships or capsizing on submerged reefs.
Francesco Schettino – captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship – has admitted he was distracted by a phone call at the time the ship ran aground and capsized on the Italian coast in January 2012. This preventable crash killed 32 people, including two Americans.
According to reports, the ship captain did not accept full blame for the shipwreck, but said, "I feel guilty for having been distracted."
Just last week, Rock Center with Brian Williams featured a story by Harry Smith about how Carnival Cruise Lines and others in the cruise industry use foreign law and fine print to effectively immunize itself from being held responsible for even preventable tragedies like Costa Concordia disaster.
It turns out, this may be the most high-profile distracted driving crash to date.
[More on Distracted Driving]
Read More:
- Costa Concordia captain admits he was 'distracted' by phone call [Michelle Kosinski at NBC News]
- Phone call distracted Costa Concordia captain [PTI via Zeenews.com]
- Costa Concordia survivors describe 'Goliath' fight against cruise industry [Harry Smith at Rock Center]
- 60 for Safety
- EndDD
- The Casey Feldman Foundation
(c) Copyright 2012 Brett A. Emison
Follow @BrettEmison on Twitter.
