Texting While Driving Cited in Hit-And-Run Accident | Tacoma Personal Injury Lawyer

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As a Personal injury attorney in Seattle, Washington and founder of Teens Against Distracted Driving (TADD) I am frightened by the texting while driving epidemic and the number of fatal auto accidents it is causing. Last week Oregon was torn apart trying to find the driver in a fatal hit-and-run accident and now we come to learn it was yet another fatal case of texting while driving.

The hit- and-run driver that killed a Selem, Oregon man turned himself in to Oregon police a week after the fatal accident. On January, 27^th around 11:30 pm Salem resident Morales Singer was walking home from trivia at a local bar when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle on 47^th Ave NE in Salem, Oregon. The driver, now identified as 19-year-old Jake Montano, fled the scene with extensive damage to his Honda Accord- including missing the right side mirror and a broken headlight along with extensive damage to the front and hood.

Singer, a 37-year-old father of three, was pronounced dead at the scene shortly after emergency aid arrived. Police were on the lookout for the vehicle involved in the crash until February 1^st when Jake Montano turned himself in.

According to Montano he was driving at roughly 45 miles per hour when the accident occurred. Montano has admitted he struck Singer as a result of texting while driving.

As cell phone technology continues to grow and becomes more integrated in our lives the number of texting while driving accidents also continues to grow. More and more cell phone users are upgrading to Smartphone’s- bundling e-mails, calendars, text messages and navigation all into one device dramatically increasing the number of distractions. The only way to prevent these fatal texting while driving accidents is by putting the phone down!

I started Teens Against Distracted Driving to reach out to teens about the dangers of texting while driving, but now adults too are guilty of checking e-mails, fiddling with the navigation system etc- so I challenge everyone to take the pledge to not text while driving. Click on the image below to sign the pledge and receive your free TADD bracelet to remind you of your commitment.