Stop the Madness

Sadly it's the same story over and over again. Someone's cellphone conversation is more important than a person's life.

Businessman killed while riding bicycle; no charges filed

A Scottsboro businessman and exercise enthusiast was killed on his bicycle Wednesday afternoon by a driver reaching for her cell phone.

Carlos Serrano, 49, died at the scene on Veterans Drive in Scottsboro after he was struck by the vehicle driven by Kimberly Kelsey Drawbaugh, 26. The police report stated the driver said she didn't see him as she reaching into her purse for her phone. Serrano was thrown 200 feet from the spot of impact near the intersection of Crawford Road.

Also Wednesday, Democratic lawmakers called for states to ban texting while driving or risk losing one-fourth of their federal highway money. Currently, 14 states and the District of Columbia have laws that make texting while driving illegal.

Such a bill passed the Alabama House 92-4 last year but never made it out of the Senate.

A study performed by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration shows that 955 deaths and 240,000 accidents in 2002 could be attributed to cell phone use. The study was conducted in 2003, but the results weren't made available until last week, which helped prompt lawmakers' actions.

Police Sgt. Scott Matthews said no charges have been filed against Drawbaugh, a Scottsboro resident, but he said the case could be sent to the grand jury.

Serrano, a native of Spain who traveled the world to compete in marathons and triathlons, was the president of Polyamide High Performance, one of the top international suppliers of nylon fibers for air bags. In a newspaper interview in 2007, he said he became interested in fitness 10 years earlier while at a corporate seminar that included a health management class.

There he realized he worked too much, didn't eat properly and didn't get enough exercise. That ignited his quest for fitness.

Because he was so passionate about exercise, Serrano encouraged those around him to be fit, too. His two children were successful athletes in several sports. Daughter Laura was the top finisher for Scottsboro High in a state golf tournament in May, and son Carlos Jr. was training with his father for a half-Ironman triathlon in Augusta, Ga.

From The Huntsville Times