Funeral for texting-and-driving teen

A funeral was held Thursday for a teenager who died in a New Brunswick texting-and-driving accident.

John Sommerville, 19, was driving on the Trans-Canada Highway near Nackawic on Monday. A passenger in the car told police the Fredericton man was sending a text message when he lost control of his car and crashed into a rock wall. 

Sommerville died at the scene.

The 20-year-old passenger was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

The fatal crash renewed calls for a ban on cellphone use for New Brunswick drivers.

Dwayne Glode, Sommerville's uncle, said people should think seriously about the consequences of driver distraction.

"They should think about it first and worry about their friends and their relatives who have to go in the middle of the night to see their — to identify their loved ones," Glode said.

"Unless it's an election issue, people don't seem to do much about anything. Just the law itself, I know at first it will take time for people to stop doing it. But after a while it will become like seatbelts and people will know it's just wrong."

Politicians promise new law

The province's Public Safety Department had long resisted a ban on cellphone use while driving, focusing instead on public education.

In January, it announced it had begun consultations about such a law.

The Progressive Conservatives and the Liberals have both said they would introduce distracted driver legislation if elected.

Grade 12 student Ashley Kumar has had her driver's licence for three weeks and she has already sent several text messages while behind the wheel.

"Yes, to text my friends, to tell them I'm there or something," she said.

"I shouldn't but I usually do it when I'm at lights or something. I tend not to. I try not to. It's dangerous, really dangerous. You shouldn't do it."