One life gone. Another life ruined, a prison sentence\nin the wings. Two families broken apart.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All due to one moment of texting and driving. It happens often nowadays, and it can be prevented easily. Here is the latest story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It was Sept. 28, 2016. Dr. Yuwen Wang, 39, a scientist for a\nfragrance maker, was out walking at 8:20 A.M. in Keansburg, N.J., just as Alexandra\nMansonet, 50, was driving by in her black Mercedes-Benz. Mansonet was heading\nto work as the chief executive of a non-profit when she looked away from the\nroad for a second and struck the back of a parked Toyota Corolla, which then\nwas pushed\nand struck<\/a> Wang as she was walking on the sidewalk, according to a Nov. 22\nstory by The New York Times<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In her\nrecent jury trial, Mansonet testified that she had looked down in her car to\nturn on a rear-window defogger on the dashboard and that when she looked up, she\nwas crashing into the parked Toyota. <\/p>\n\n\n\n After the\ncollision, she turned her cellphone over to police, who found a\npartially-completed text message on the device, which discussed dinner choices\nfor that evening. Mansonet was later charged with vehicular homicide and was accused\nof texting while driving. She faces a sentence of up to 10 years in prison\nafter a jury recently found her guilty of the charge after more than two days of\ndeliberations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In 2012, New\nJersey passed a law that places texting while driving on par with drunken\ndriving. This case was the first to arise since that law went into effect. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Wang died of her injuries several\ndays after the crash.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Mansonet\nsaid during the trial that she did not remember when she had started typing the\nreply text on her phone screen, the story reported. It was the defroster that\nhad her attention, she testified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Forty-seven\nstates and the District of Columbia ban text messaging for all drivers, the\nstory reported. And about 10% of fatal crashes in the U.S. between 2013 and\n2017 involved distracted driving, according to data collected by the National Highway Traffic Safety\nAdministration<\/a>, according to the story. About 14% of those crashes were\nlinked to the use of a cellphone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In\n2019, 73 drivers across the U.S. were involved in fatal crashes and were\nidentified as distracted that resulted in charges unrelated to traffic\nviolations, according to a National Safety Council analysis of data provided by\nthe traffic safety administration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The\ntragic case is not the only one like this. But what we can learn from it as\ndrivers is that we must never, ever text and drive due to the dangers of distracted\ndriving. A single mistake can change multiple lives in an instant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Please\nremember to put your cellphone down when driving and do not respond to, read or\nsend text messages while operating a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your\nlife and the lives of others depend on this important responsibility.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Legal cases like this one occur around the nation\nevery day and are examples of similar kinds of car crash cases that MyPhillyLawyer<\/em> attorneys\nregularly work on tirelessly for our own clients. Often, we are not able to\ndiscuss the cases we are actively working on due to confidentiality\nrequirements, so we discuss other relevant cases in the news such as this one\nto illustrate the legal situations people find themselves in every day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When you need a car accident injury attorney<\/a>, we here at MyPhillyLawyer<\/em> stand\nready to assist you with your legal case if you or a loved one is ever\nseriously injured in any kind of car crash, slip and fall, pedestrian\ninjury, workplace injury or wrongful death in Philadelphia or anywhere in the\nUnited States. We pledge to make sure that you and your family get the\ncompassionate, dogged and experienced legal representation that you deserve and\nexpect from a professional legal team which works hard to uncover every fact to\nbolster your case and maximize your damage award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n We represent the families of victims who die\nin such tragedies as well, to ensure that their families receive every penny of\ndamages that they are eligible to receive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Talk to a Philadelphia car crash attorney\nat MyPhillyLawyer<\/em><\/a> by\ncalling 215-227-2727 or toll-free at 1-866-907-2231 anytime\nand our experienced, compassionate, aggressive team of attorneys and support\nstaff will be there for you and your family every step of the way as we manage\nyour case through the legal system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n