Man dies a week after Bridgewater distracted driving car crash

By now, we assume that all of our readers have heard warnings against texting while driving. It is a leading cause of accidents these days and results in far too many deaths and injuries each year. Nationwide, scientists at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate that 1,060 people are injured every day in traffic accidents in which driver distraction was a factor.

Even so, sometimes it helps to have proof or a concrete example of a hazard to really understand it. A very sad story out of Bridgewater may serve the solemn purpose.

On Monday, a West Bridgewater man died in a Boston hospital a week after he was involved in a car accident. Police have said they believe he was texting at the time of the collision.

The 24-year-old man had been traveling on Route 18 near the 1500 block of 1500 Bedford Street around 6 a.m. June 9 when he crossed the yellow line and hit an oncoming vehicle.

The 52-year-old Brockton man who was driving the pickup truck which the now-deceased man struck suffered only minor injuries in the incident.

The 24-year-old man was taken Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, but was pronounced dead after doctors’ best efforts failed.

As we see it, the tragic death of someone so young ought to function as a warning to all of our readers about the dangers of texting while driving. We know it can seem like you can both drive and text, and we know that it’s tempting to send “just one more,” but the truth is, texting while driving is very dangerous.

Source: Enterprise News, “Driver injured in Bridgewater crash caused by texting dies,” Mara Padaopoulos, June 17, 2013