COLUMBIA – A driver allegedly talking on a cell phone when she killed two bicyclists in Lancaster County quietly has agreed to pay $2.5 million to settle a lawsuit over one of the deaths, according to court documents.

And a jury trial in the death of the second bicyclist is to start this week in federal court in Columbia.

The case embodies the rising anxiety over people's use of cell phones and texting devices while driving. And the stakes are high.

The driver, Sharon King, whose Chrysler Pacifica killed two bicyclists in October 2007, still has $55 million in insurance that can be paid for actual and punitive damages to the estate of dead bicyclist Thomas Hoskins, 49, of Columbia.

Last week, King, 36, pleaded guilty in Lancaster County to the criminal charge of reckless driving in the deaths of Hoskins and Lee Ann Barry, 43, of Waxhaw, N.C.

Barry and Hoskins were expert cyclists riding in a charity event to promote bicycle safety.

Barry's estate settled its civil suit in state court for $2.5 million. Now, what remains to be decided in both deaths is how much money a jury should award Hoskins' estate.

The trial is to start Wednesday — the same day the S.C. House of Representatives will hold a hearing on a bill that would ban both hand-held cell-phone talking and texting by drivers.

Under that bill, talking or texting while driving would be a misdemeanor punished by a maximum $100 fine. Motorists legally could use a cell phone if they had a hands-free device.

“Our bill is on the fast track,” said Transportation subcommittee chairman Rep. Don Smith, R-Aiken, the bill's chief sponsor. The bill also is sponsored by Rep. Phil Owens, R-Pickens, chairman of the committee overseeing Smith's subcommittee.

Increasingly, Smith said, constituents are asking when lawmakers will limit drivers' cell phone use.

Cell phone driving “is the new DUI,” argued lawyer Dick Harpootlian in pretrial arguments in the bicycle case last week. He represents Hoskins' estate.

Across the country, other states are passing laws to restrict drivers' cell phone use. Businesses and governments limit cell phone use while driving.

Scientific evidence is mounting that talking or texting while driving is a deadly distraction — far moreso than talking to a live passenger in a car or even eating.

In this week's trial, Hoskins' lawyers will seek to convince a jury that using cell phones while driving is such a public threat that a large award is justified to make an example of King.

King's lawyers said she will testify she had finished her cell phone conversation before hitting the cyclists.

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