Boston Personal Injury Lawyer Peter Bellotti Consoles Victim Clients as First Massachusetts Texting-While-Driving Trial Continues

Boston personal injury attorney Peter Bellotti has spent the early part of the week observing the highly publicized texting-while-driving criminal trial in Haverhill District Court.

Cambridge, MA (prHWY.com) June 7, 2012 - HAVERHILL--Boston personal injury attorney Peter Bellotti has spent the early part of the week observing the highly publicized texting-while-driving criminal trial in Haverhill District Court. The criminal case is the first of its kind in Massachusetts and features a teen driver charged with texting while operating a motor vehicle negligently and causing injury. Attorney Bellotti is closely connected to the trial, as his personal injury firm in Boston, Bellotti Law Group, represents the victims of the crash in a civil suit. The case stems from a February 2011 car accident in Haverhill in which Donald Bowley was killed and his girlfriend, Luz Roman, was seriously injured. The accident occurred after the defendant, teen driver Aaron Deveau, allegedly crossed the center line of traffic, after being distracted by text messaging.

The trial has featured emotional testimony from the deceased victim's sister and the surviving victim, Luz Roman, girlfriend of the deceased Donald Bowley. Bowley's family including his three children, were also in attendance. Prosecutors are alleging that the teen exchanged 193 texts on the day of the fatal car crash, including during the moments before the accident.

The defendant, Deveau, 18, of Haverhill, is the first person in the state to be charged with texting while operating a motor vehicle negligently causing injury. If he is ultimately convicted, Deveau faces up to two years in jail. He is also charged with motor vehicle homicide, which carries a maximum sentence of 2 1/2 years.

According to the National Safety Council, an alarming 1.6 million car crashes each year are attributed to cell phone use, including talking and texting while behind the wheel. This has prompted lawmakers on the state and federal level to pass stringent laws regarding distracted drivers and texting-while-driving in particular. Pursuant to federal law, truck and bus drivers are completely prohibited from texting while driving. Under Massachusetts state law, texting while driving is also completely forbidden. Massachusetts was the twenty-ninth state nationwide to enact the full ban, which prohibits texting, emailing, web surfing, and reading from handheld devices and laptops. Further, drivers under age 18 are banned entirely from cell phone use, including talking and texting, while driving. If a driver causes an accident while texting, as in this case, in Massachusetts, they may face criminal charges. According to Boston personal injury lawyer Peter Bellotti, "Texting while driving is reckless and dangerous, as this case demonstrates. If a texting-while-driving car accident results in a fatal accident, the offender may be sued for wrongful death. If a negligent driver is texting and causes property damage or an injury to another, the driver may also be sued for these damages. In short, the laws in Massachusetts and nationwide are stringent for a reason." The trial will continue on Monday, June 4.

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