June 7, 2012 — Another example of the growing trend of law enforcement taking action against texting while driving, a Massachusetts teen was the first person that state to be convicted under their texting while driving law and the young man was sentenced to at least one year in jail.
Aaron Deveau was texting while driving and caused a car accident last year that took the life of a 55 year old man and seriously injured a passenger. According to prosecutors, the young man had sent 193 text messages the day of the crash, including some shortly prior to impact and dozens more immediately afterward.
He was convicted of motor vehicle homicide and negligent operation while texting. His sentence was 2 1/2 years but will likely only serve 1 year behind bars while the rest of the sentence is suspended.
Texting while driving is illegal in Pennsylvania and law enforcement focus on the subject is intensifying. The Pennsylvania legislature recently added teeth to the law by making it a primary offense, allowing police officers to pull drivers over without evidence of any other offense. When an accident causes death or injury, evidence of texting while driving may make the difference in a case that is handled by civil authorities or one that is turned over to criminal law enforcement.
Contact an Experienced Pennsylvania Car Accident Attorney
If your loved one was injured or, worse, killed in a car accident in Erie County, Crawford County, Venango County, Mercer or Warren County, you will have many questions. How and why did this happen? How will our medical bills be paid? What if I can’t return to work? A consultation with an experienced Pennsylvania injury attorney can answer your questions.
The Erie car crash injury lawyers at Purchase, George & Murphey, P.C. can help. We offer free, no-strings attached consults to injured people and grieving families. To get the answers to your questions, call today locally at 814-273-2010 or toll free at 814-273-2010 or use our convenient on-line form on the right side of this page. We’ll answer your questions and, if appropriate, we’ll help you to recover the compensation necessary to make things right and deter accidents like this from happening to others.
Call today. Our consults are free and convenient and we won’t charge a fee unless we obtain a recovery for you.