Lee R. Schroeder is an Ohio licensed attorney with Schroeder Law LLC in Ottawa. He limits his practice to business, real estate, estate planning and agriculture issues in northwest Ohio. He can be reached at lee@leeschroeder.com or at (419) 523-5523. This article is not intended to serve as legal advice, and specific advice should be sought from the licensed attorney of your choice based upon the specific facts and circumstances that you face.
Northwest Ohio regularly hosts plenty of trains, which many residents joke that they spend a large chunk of their time waiting on. Many people see the opportunity while waiting on train to pick up their phones and text or catch up on social media. In Ohio it’s illegal to text and drive, and this includes while waiting for a train.
I live in the small town of Leipsic, which jokingly boasts more trains than residents. Locals joke that we spend a third of our time working or going to school, a third of our time sleeping and a third of our time waiting on trains.
In our region, waiting for trains, especially when there are seldom any other traffic slow-downs of any type, can seem like prison. Our culture tells us that we make the most of our time. Therefore, for many people, waiting on a train seems like a great time to grab phones to text friends, read emails or learn gossip from Facebook. Just recently, a close friend texted me while she was waiting on a train.
Read Lee’s full post about texting while waiting for trains in the Lima News here: Legal-Ease: Texts, trains and automobiles
Source: LimaOhio.com, “Legal-Ease: Texts, trains and automobiles,” by Lee R. Schroeder, October 24, 2015