So, driving while talking on the phone isn't a big deal?

Last Friday, I was working from home, we were short staffed because half the team had gone to a meeting in another city.  One of the people who stayed to work was a good guy named Larry.  We made quite a bit of fun about Larry, because he had more fender benders than everyone else in the department combined.  But they were all 15 mph incidents or less, basically you just didn't want to park anywhere near him.  On the road, he was fine.  Larry was rebuilding a BMW in his spare time, tracking down original parts online, because he wanted his car to be authentic, no aftermarket parts, everything that would have been on the car when it rolled off of the production line.

Larry was a very personable guy, he knew everyone, their cousin, their cousin's dog, and their cousin's dog's cousin.  The other joke about Larry was that he was at work 9 hours a day, but at his desk only 5 of those hours, because he'd be talking to someone either on the way to, at, or back from the coffee shop at work.  He'd give you the shirt off of his back, help you find a great deal on anything you might be looking for, and then help you move it/install it/test whatever it was out.

Last Friday, as I was saying, I was working from home, and noticed that Larry had not made it back from lunch, and was rather late, about forty-five minutes late.  I messaged the people who were at the office asking if they'd seen him.  "Oh you know Larry, he's probably at the coffee shop".  Two hours late, and we're emailing our manager and leads to see if anyone's heard from Larry.  A call to his cell phone went to voice mail, so we knew nothing.

Three hours late, we get an email saying that there's been an accident.  No details at this time, but Larry's been airlifted to the hospital.  Three hours later, I get a call to get on a bridgeline concerning Larry.

Yesterday we get the full story of what happened.  Larry was riding his motorcycle back from lunch, and was making a left hand turn with the light across the local highway, one hundred yards from the entrance to work.  Someone coming from the other direction was having a rather animated discussion on their cellphone, and didn't see that their light had changed.  The impact threw Larry a good sixty feet.  He was wearing full safety gear, helmet, jacket, boots, etc....., but needless to say those only work where the only impact is between the rider and the ground.

We expect the service to be later this week.  There's a reason there are bumper stickers that say things like "Hang Up and Drive".  I hope the conversation was worth it - because there are parents this week who are burying their only child, who was only twenty-six years old, because of it.