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Teen found guilty of negligent vehicular homicide
WHDH-TV ^ | 6/6/12 | WHDH-TV

Posted on 06/06/2012 9:01:28 AM PDT by raccoonradio

Edited on 06/06/2012 9:32:18 AM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]

HAVERHILL, Mass. (AP) -- A Massachusetts teenager has been found guilty of motor vehicle homicide and negligent operation for causing a fatal car crash while texting on his cellphone.

It was the first time someone had been tried in Massachusetts for the crimes while sending or receiving a text message.


(Excerpt) Read more at 1.whdh.com ...


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: accident; haverhill; texting
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Found guilty and got those punishments. His victim, who was innocent, got the death penalty you might say, though. One can only imagine what "important" things he was texting. (Teens of course believe "this can't happen to me". He will soon see the inside of a jail cell. At least he won't be in a coffin.)
1 posted on 06/06/2012 9:01:42 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio

There is never any excuse for texting or reading texts while driving.


2 posted on 06/06/2012 9:06:44 AM PDT by ilovesarah2012
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To: ilovesarah2012

Yes. Feb of 2011, a 21 yr old drives his car into a river. Manages to escape; car later fished out of the river (in Danvers MA). Not exactly warm water that time of year.

Why?

Texting.

He got a $100 fine. That’ll show him!


3 posted on 06/06/2012 9:15:34 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio
Bowley died 18 days later.

Who knows what agony this poor man suffered before he died? And the perp gets one year in jail and some community service?

Outrageous!!

4 posted on 06/06/2012 9:20:12 AM PDT by upchuck (Need is not an acceptable lifestyle choice; dependent is not a career. ~ Dr. Tim Nerenz)
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To: raccoonradio

Was his name ‘Kennedy’?.............


5 posted on 06/06/2012 9:26:22 AM PDT by Red Badger (Think logically. Act normally.................)
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To: upchuck

Yes...though for the next 15 years he’ll have to beg rides from others or take public transit. Still...wonder if his community service will involve speaking to teens at their schools and telling them why they shouldn’t text.

Maybe they’ll take a couple minutes away from texting to listen to him.


6 posted on 06/06/2012 9:30:20 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio
Deveau testified in his own defense Tuesday and said he was not sending or receiving text messages in the moments before the head-on collision in February 2011.

So, he still crossed the yellow line and killed someone. Better to have fessed up to what he was doing. You know he'll get out on good behavior long before his two years is up. That sentence was a waste of the court's time and an insult to the victim and his family.

7 posted on 06/06/2012 9:31:29 AM PDT by bgill
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To: Red Badger

Not exactly, but a similar incident—drove off a narrow bridge in Mass.!

http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1709529452/Police-say-texting-man-drove-car-into-Waters-River

>>A driver who police said was texting behind the wheel managed to escape serious injury late Monday night after his car plunged off the Water Street bridge and into the Waters River.
Police plan to summons Gerald Maher, 21, of 195 Maple St., Danvers, to court for negligent operation of a motor vehicle and texting while driving, police Capt. Pat Ambrose said. The charge of texting behind the wheel carries a civil fine.
Maher, who was alone in the car, was heading toward Peabody, police said, when the car crossed the road and broke through a guardrail on the opposite side of the street. The car traveled down a steep embankment and was swallowed by the river.

The two-lane bridge in Danversport carries Route 35 traffic to and from Peabody. It’s being rebuilt by the state.
Patrolmen Keith Chalmers, Dana Martin and Justin Ellenton; Sgt. Jamie Lovell; and fire and harbormaster personnel responded to the scene at 11:45 p.m., but those who first arrived could find no sign of the car, police Chief Neil Ouellette said.

Martin, who was first on scene, heard a man yelling for help, Ouellette said.

The current apparently pushed Maher through the bridge opening and toward Eastern Propane at 131 Water St., where police located him, Ouellette said. Ouellette could not say how Maher got out of the car.

“There was a mention of texting” when Maher first spoke with officers, Ouellette said.

http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1709529452/Police-say-texting-man-drove-car-into-Waters-River


8 posted on 06/06/2012 9:32:39 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: upchuck
If his name was Kennedy, this would be another "Kennedy family tradegy" and he'd get off with a traffic ticker.

When a car crosses the lane divider and collides head on with another car, there is a prima facie presumption of negligence. Negligence resulting in the death of another is the definition of manslaughter. Negligent homicide involves acting with "depraved indifference" to human life. The act of texting and driving show depraved indifference to human life, imho.

9 posted on 06/06/2012 9:33:12 AM PDT by Lonesome in Massachussets (The Democratic Party strongly supports full civil rights for necro-Americans!)
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To: raccoonradio

I hope the judge throws the book at this arrogant twit teen at sentencing. This kid claimed time after time after time that he wasn’t distracted by texting on his cell phone but by thinking about his homework.


10 posted on 06/06/2012 9:47:01 AM PDT by MIchaelTArchangel (Da Bro' Gotsta Go!)
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To: raccoonradio

A lady in a pick up truck rear ended me at 60 mph while texting. Multiple fusion surgeries and constant pain. At least I lived.


11 posted on 06/06/2012 10:14:57 AM PDT by MattinNJ (Romney? Really? Seriously?)
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To: ilovesarah2012

:: There is never any excuse for texting or reading texts while driving. ::

How about practicing the recorder as you drive along the Tri-State tollway at 75 mph in your State issued Police Car?


12 posted on 06/06/2012 10:17:33 AM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations - The acronym explains the science.)
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To: MIchaelTArchangel

Sentencing has taken place: 2.5 years technically but 1 yr to be spent in jail. Community service. And 15 yr loss of
license, so he’ll be able to drive again at 33.


13 posted on 06/06/2012 10:34:29 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: raccoonradio
This is my neck o' the woods . . . I'm very familiar with where this terrible accident occurred.

Dude got a year in the slammer, 40 hours of community service, and loss of license for 15 years. Kind of a small price to pay for taking someone's life, but then again, he's got that Scarlet A on his soul for the rest of his life. I hope he uses that to his best advantage and makes amends for what he did.

14 posted on 06/06/2012 10:40:03 AM PDT by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: Hemingway's Ghost

http://www.salemnews.com/local/x1968184324/Teen-denies-texting-at-time-of-crash

And the other victim Luz Roman will deal with her injuries the rest of her life, she says.


15 posted on 06/06/2012 10:54:11 AM PDT by raccoonradio
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To: ilovesarah2012

I have had cell phones for 14 years and I have never sent a text message. come to think of it, I don’t know how . . . and I don’t care.


16 posted on 06/06/2012 10:57:04 AM PDT by Petruchio (I Think . . . Therefor I FReep.)
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To: raccoonradio
Just a horrible set of circumstances. This is Route 110, which cuts through downtown Haverhill, though the crash didn't happen downtown, but upriver not far from the I-495 interchange. The road there is fairly wide, with more than enough road space to take evasive action, if necessary. I'm talking pretty plenty of breakdown lane space, here.

Driver inexperience behind the wheel + texting while driving = Recipe for disaster.

17 posted on 06/06/2012 11:08:05 AM PDT by Hemingway's Ghost (Spirit of '75)
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To: raccoonradio

Isnt Waters a silly name for a river?


18 posted on 06/06/2012 11:20:07 AM PDT by When do we get liberated? (A socialist is a communist who realizes he must suck at the tit of Capitalism.)
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To: Cletus.D.Yokel

No way, the recorder requires two hands. Stick to the bugle and you’ll be alright.


19 posted on 06/06/2012 11:24:46 AM PDT by Boogieman
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To: Boogieman

I posted that because that is what I actually saw coming home from work.

Illinois State Trooper going 75 mph. Sheet music on the steering wheel, 2 hands on the recorder.

Rules for thee but not for me!


20 posted on 06/06/2012 12:25:14 PM PDT by Cletus.D.Yokel (Catastrophic Anthropogenic Climate Alterations - The acronym explains the science.)
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