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WINNIPEG — Vann Hansell was driving his Toyota pickup truck after a late shift at work and a beer.

For much of the drive, his iPhone 4 was in his hand. In the span of 44 minutes, he typed and sent 12 text messages and read seven.

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The last message the 19-year-old received was especially long: “It was so cold! Hahaha at least it was nice to get out of the city. Got drunk and just had fun and drove to kenora twice.”

It would have taken Hansell about seven seconds to read the message. Driving near the speed limit, he would have travelled 136 metres before the crash.