Whether you think taking a selfie is vain or not, they are at least fairly harmless. That is, unless you are driving and have other people in the vehicle.
That didn’t stop 29-year-old Jordan Toner from Hampden, Maine in the US from attempting to take a cheeky selfie with seven friends while driving down Deering Lake Road in Orient, which lead to him losing control and hitting a tree.
Two girls in the front who were not wearing seatbelts had to be rushed to Houlton Regional Hospital, one with a fractured nose and the other with suspected back and neck injuries, while two men in there 20s and 30s were treated for minor injuries including cuts around the eyes.
A picture later released by police revealed the vehicle itself sustained fairly serious damage to the front-right side of the bonnet, but the tree appeared to have survived the ordeal.
“Toner leaned over to take a ‘selfie’ picture with his friends, and ran off the road into a tree,” Maine State Police said in a statement.
Toner will now face charges for ‘failing to maintain control of a motor vehicle due to distraction’. He is likely to receive a fine and could lose his licence.
There has been a worrying increase in the number of distracted driving accidents. One case involved two Iranian girls who crashed after filming themselves singing. In fact, according to research by Ford, one in three young British drivers take selfies while behind the wheel.
Instances of dangerous selfies have also happened outside the car, with three females arrested after stopping on the M6 motorway to pose for a photo.
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