Truck Driver Sentenced After Texting & Driving

In April 2025, a Florida man was sentenced to 8 years in jail, plus 7 years’ probation, after pleading ‘no contest’ to several charges including vehicular homicide. The man was driving a dump truck in May 2022 in New Smyrna Beach, when he crashed into the back of a pickup truck while texting and driving. The driver of the pickup truck later died of his injuries, with its passenger being seriously injured. The perpetrator was also found to have tested positive for methamphetamine and amphetamines.

Texting & Driving Is The Ultimate Distraction

While the man sentenced in the New Smyrna Beach accident was under the influence of drugs, it is important to keep in mind that even without the presence of illicit substances, texting while driving could plausibly have caused this accident. Statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimate that between 8 and 10 percent of all fatal crashes in 2023 involved distracted drivers, and between 2014-2023, it is estimated that as many as 32,000 people lost their lives in this type of crash.

The reason that texting and driving is particularly dangerous is because unlike many other types of distractions, it removes a person’s attention almost totally from the road. If a truck or tractor-trailer driver operates their vehicle in a sufficiently distracted manner, it also takes them significantly longer to stop than it does a standard car – about 130 feet versus about 55 feet. If a sudden stop becomes necessary, one would prefer to react fast, while texting and driving deadens reaction time.

Keep Your Record Clear

If you have been charged with texting and driving, or with any crime related to texting and driving, it is important to enlist an attorney to protect your rights as quickly as possible. There are a host of different crimes that one may be charged with if texting & driving causes harm to life or limb, running the gamut between minor misdemeanors to vehicular homicide. The actual offense of texting while driving is a “noncriminal traffic violation,” but because it so often leads to other events, it is still crucial to take this seriously.

One major reason why is that being ticketed for texting and driving can be used against you in civil court. In civil court, an injured person sues one or more defendants to try and recover money damages from them because they allegedly caused the plaintiff’s injuries. The standard of proof in civil court is not as strict as criminal court’s “innocent until proven guilty” – rather, it only has to be “more likely than not” that a defendant‘s actions caused the plaintiff’s injuries. A ticket for texting and driving is prima facie evidence of negligence in a case where a person is seeking to prove negligence in court.

Contact A Tampa Distracted Driving Attorney

Most of the time, injuries in accidents involving tractor-trailers tend to be more severe just because of the size of the vehicle involved – however, distracted driving is behavior that can cause injury or death even with only smaller vehicles involved. A Tampa distracted driving attorney from the Rinaldo Law Group can help you receive the compensation you deserve – call us today to schedule a consultation.

Source:

msn.com/en-us/autos/news/texting-while-driving-a-dump-truck-man-sentenced-in-fatal-crash/ar-AA1D3hIb