I agree that normal nice people also use their phones. What she was doing did seem a bit extreme though. 78 on a road like that is a bad start, and to then jump a red while on the phone is more than a bit careless. It's almost inevitable you're going to kill someone when driving like that.
Yeah, it's stupid. At what point are you charge of it? If the car is in the car park and you've got the key in your pocket, aren't you in charge of it then?
Or if you have a couple too many beers at the pub and decide to walk home, but first you get your scarf out of the car - you're guilty of drink driving.