How Do Nice People End Up in Prison?

In this week’s episode of Lawyers Podcast, I felt obligated to make a plea to everyone listening and watching to please put down your cell phones while driving. Because I have represented injured victims and surviving loved ones involved in horrific texting while driving car crashes, I find myself on the front lines of this issue and I see the unbearable pain it causes. That pain frequently extends to the driver and their family when the need to pay attention to a cell phone leads to the driver facing a decades long prison sentence.

Aptly entitled “How did I end up in prison?” I am hoping that week’s conversation gets through to at least one person and prevents them from ending up doing a lengthy prison term because they could not stay off their cell phone. The reality is that if you hit the wrong person, get the wrong state’s attorney, or find yourself facing charges in the wrong county, failing to put your cell phone down could lead to spending decades of your life in prison.

How Did You End Up in Prison?

When most people think about the prisoners sitting in prison doing lengthy prison sentences, they envision violent offenders who intentionally harmed someone. They certainly don’t see themselves sitting in that prison cell. The Tampa Bay tow truck driver recently sentenced to a 30-year prison term probably never imagined he would be spending half his life in prison. After all, he didn’t set out to murder anyone. What he did, however, was cause a deadly car crash, taking the life of a nine-year-old child, because he was on his phone searching on the internet while driving on the highway. His lengthy sentence shows that law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and judges are getting tired of the serious injuries and deaths caused by drivers who refuse to put down their cell phones while operating a vehicle.

How Dangerous Is Texting While Driving?

Despite a concerted effort by both government agencies and private advocacy groups to educate motorists about the dangers of using cell phones while driving, people continue to text and search the internet while driving. Each year, more than 3,000 people are killed in a texting while driving collision, according to statistics provide by the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA ). People on cells phone or drinking and driving are 90 percent of the reasons why I have clients. In some ways, people on cell phones are more dangerous than people who are drinking and driving. At least the person who is drinking and driving is trying to keep the vehicle on the roadway and obey the traffic laws. The person on their phone, on the other hand, does not have their eyes or mind on the roadway. According to the NHTSA, sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds which, at highway speeds, means you are driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed and your mind off the task of driving.

Texting While Driving Can Lead to Criminal Charges

Like most states, Florida has enacted legislation that prohibits texting while driving. While the simple act of texting while driving may only result in a traffic fine, the consequences of causing or contributing to a collision while texting and driving can be far worse. As I frequently point out – there is no such thing as a car accident. It is a choice – and one that could have devastating consequences for everyone involved. If you are responsible for a distracted driving collision that causes a death, you could be charged with manslaughter or vehicular manslaughter and face up to 30 years in prison if convicted. I urge people to ask themselves if reading or answering that text message is really worth spending three decades of your life in a windowless concrete room with no air conditioning? Just put it down!

If you have questions or concerns about a texting while driving collision, contact the experienced personal injury attorneys at Reed & Reed.