Friday, August 22, 2008 at 9:49 a.m.
Read more: Local, State
MASON, OHIO (AP) -- Authorities in southwest Ohio say a driver admitted that she was using a cell phone to text-message a friend when her car went off the road, hit a mailbox and overturned.
Eighteen-year-old Sarah Stearns of Monroe was thrown from the vehicle about 2 a.m. Wednesday. A spokesman for the State Highway Patrol says Stearns has been cited for operating a vehicle without reasonable control.
Stearns was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Officials say they don't know how many accidents occur while drivers are texting. The Ohio Department of Public Safety says similar practices, such as talking on a cell phone or putting on makeup, fall into a catch-all category of "driver inattention."
(Copyright ©2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)