I read this article on Yahoo and it outrages me! Massachusetts Teen Aaron Deveau Found Guilty in Landmark Texting While Driving Case.
Aaron Deveau, 18, was the first driver to be charged and convicted of motor vehicle homicide by texting under Massachusetts law.
Prosecutors said Deveau, who pleaded not guilty, was texting on Feb. 20, when his vehicle swerved across the center line of a Haverhill street and crashed head on into Donald Bowley's truck, killing the 55-year-old father of three.
Deveau was charged with motor vehicle homicide and negligent operation of a motor vehicle, using a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle, reading or sending an electronic message, a marked lanes violation, and two counts of negligent operation and injury from mobile phone use.
Deveau's lawyer argued that there was no evidence the crash caused Bowley's death. When Deveau testified he said he was distracted by the amount of homework he had to do and was not sending or reading a text message in the moments before the crash. He said he sent his last text message while parked in the parking lot of the grocery store where he worked. According to Deveau's testimony, his phone remained in the passenger's seat until after the crash, when he called his parents.
But prosecutors argued that Deveau was not paying attention when the vehicles collided. Phone records indicated he sent a text message at 2:34 p.m. and received a response at 2:35 p.m. Police said the crash occurred at 2:36 p.m.
Texting while driving is a crime in Washington, D.C., and 38 states, including Massachusetts. Deveau faces up to four years in prison. All he gets is four measly years. That doesn't make up for what he took from that family because he couldn't his phone down!
My son and I were almost killed in a grocery store parking lot because some idiot was texting while driving/talking on his cell phone. This young kid never saw us much less stopped he just kept going. It's just as bad as drinking and driving! If you are not a safe driver you shouldn't be out there jeopardizing peoples lives.
Tasha J. Sayah
Williamsport
Submitted by Virtual Newsroom
