An American woman is suing mobile phone companies for the death of her mother in a car accident caused by another driver, who ran a red light while distracted by his phone.  A man, who has already admitted to the crime of negligent manslaughter, taken full responsibility, and declared that he doesn’t blame mobile phones.

The key is, of course, that we’re not meant to say nasty things about someone who’s suffered a death in the family.  But, the woman didn’t make an appeal for increased safety, or start a campaign to raise awareness, or any other cash free alternative – she went straight to the lawsuit.  Armed with lawyers who’ve been waiting for someone to come along with a case such as this since the first phone signals were sent.

Talking on a phone while driving is already illegal in an ever-increasing number of countries, and every phone comes padded with enough safety signage to warn you against every activity above breathing.  Suing the mobile provider for this accident is like suing Homebase after nailing your hand to a table.  It is absolutely impossible to prevent people from abusing anything – you could sell padded hypoallergenic marshmallows, there’s no way to stop some sod suffocating on them.

The woman says that the mobile industry’s success in marketing to drivers is why this happened, which does mean she’s successfully imagined an entire “Why Not Talk And Drive?” campaign utterly in opposition to every actual announcement on the subject.  The driver refused to accept this, saying “It’s our choice if we’re going to talk on the cellphone while driving or walking down the street or in the office”…Hmm, I wonder how she’ll get on in court?