A Bremerton car crash that claimed the life of 6-month-old child has been ruled another senseless case of texting while driving. Being a Tacoma auto accident lawyer I remember the accident as it happened October 6th 2010 on northbound State Route 303 by Riddle Road in Bremerton. The Williams family was stopped at a red light when an SUV crashed into the back of their car, crushing the trunk and back seat. 6-month-old Enzo Williams was riding in the back seat and suffered a fractured skull, brain injury and bruised windpipe as a result of the accident. The child was rushed to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital, but did not survive his injuries.
Upon further investigation, police discovered that the driver of the SUV, Sydney Wright was typing a text message when the fatal texting while driving accident occurred. Wright’s next court appearance is scheduled for February 24th.
The death of a young child is always difficult and extremely sad—a 6 month old hasn’t had time to develop memories, talk or even walk and to have that young life taken through something so easy to avoid is a tragedy. What makes these horrible accidents even worse is some of the responses they receive from the public—rather than realizing how dangerous texting while driving is some people choose to believe that only OTHER people are the problem and fail to look at themselves. When reading this story on Komo News one of the commenters said
“I will never pull over to text, answer my phone, or dial out. I will continue to do so regardless of intrusive, reactionary laws designed solely for revenue… If the goal is banning “distracting activities” while in the car, you would need to ban food, drink, radios, passengers, and human drivers. Only a machine could operate a vehicle with no chance of being distracted”
It is this invincibility mentality that makes groups such as Teens Against Distracted Driving and Mothers Against Drunk Driving so necessary. Please be safe and be smart- take the pledge to not text while driving.
