Sunday, October 4, 2009

Distracted Driving



I am glad this case went to trial, folks need to learn they run the risk of being prosecuted if their negligence and distractions rise to the level of criminal behavior.

Of course I have a bias, having been rear-ended by someone who was talking on their cell phone and striking me at 45 mph while I was stopped.


Distracted driver is found guilty in fatal crash in Houston
By Paige Hewitt - Houston Chronicle

HOUSTON — Jurors are expected to decide Monday on the punishment for a woman who was convicted in the death of a 25-year-old man after prosecutors argued that she was distracted by her cell phone at the time of the three-car crash.

Jeri Dawn Montgomery, 24, was convicted Friday of criminally negligent homicide for causing a March 2008 collision that killed Chance Wilcox.

The jury found Montgomery's vehicle was a deadly weapon, bumping the charge to a third-degree felony from a state jail felony, said Donna Hawkins, public information attorney for the Harris County District Attorney's Office. Montgomery, who was taken to the Harris County jail after the jury's verdict, faces probation or up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000.

The rest of the story: