If it is not drinking and driving, then it is texting and driving for this young linebacker for the University of Texas.  Sergio Kindle was texting and driving last week (June 24) when he lost control of his car while reading a text message and crashed it into an apartment building.  This most recent accident cause Kindle $8,700 worth of damages to the building, luckily no one inside the building was hurt.  After the crash, he pushed his car back up on the street and drove it home.  Kindle’s team doctors checked him out to find a concussion, but nothing too serious to need hospital attention.

Lucky for Kindle, no charges will be filed (at least as of yet), but he will need to pay to repair the apartment building, which he will either claim on his insurance (if they will cover it, but I doubt they will) or pay out of pocket.  My favorite part of this whole story is that his lawyer, Brian Roark was quoted saying, “It was probably something he should not have been doing.”  Really, Roark, something he “probably” should not have been doing.  I think if you take out “probably” then the sentence is correct.  Another one of my favorite parts to this story is that Kindle left the scene of the accident; he just pushed his car back onto the road and took off.  Obviously he knew he was in the wrong, first off texting while driving, which I am not sure if it is illegal in Texas yet (I do know they had a bill filed in October of 2008 making it illegal, but I am not sure if it has been passed through into law yet), but it is illegal in several other states.  Secondly, he cause damage to an apartment building, and how would he know that no one was injured?  Think for a second before you do anything stupid.  When you are first involved in an accident, even if by yourself, if you damage another piece of property that is not yours, you need to call and report it to the police.  Leaving the scene of the crime is the worst thing you could do.  At least Kindle told someone, his coaches and doctors and he is supposed to file a report with the Texas Department of Transportation.

Since texting became popular, there have been thousands of accidents and even hundreds of deaths because people are not paying attention to the road, and instead their cell phone.  Kindle is extremely lucky that he and no one else were injured from this accident – count your lucky stars Kindle.

This, although is not Kindle’s first incident since he joined the University of Texas.  Back in 2007, when Kindle was a sophomore, he was arrested for drinking while intoxicated, which lead him to be benched for the first three games of his 2007 season as well as several hours of community service.  People need to be more responsible for their actions, think before doing.  Kindle, you especially are in the public eye, teenage boys look up to you – think first.