On behalf of William Green of Law Offices of William W. Green & Associates posted in Car Accidents on Tuesday, July 2, 2019.

Over the last few years, most people in California and across the country have heard many messages touting the dangers of texting while driving, and in most states, drivers who do so are breaking the law. Car accidents can easily happen when drivers are looking down at a cellphone, even if for only a few seconds. In that time, they may fail to see vehicles or other obstacles in their path or a road sign. Unfortunately, a girl was killed and five others were injured in a recent multiple-car crash that seems to have been caused by a texting driver.

According to a California Highway Patrol news release, the accident happened on a Sunday afternoon on a road between Yuba City and Live Oak and involved a series of collisions. Initially, a pickup truck driven by a 24-year-old man rear-ended another vehicle driven by a 31-year-old woman. Reportedly, the man in the truck was texting while driving and failed to notice that traffic had slowed on the two-lane highway. A girl was ejected from the vehicle that was hit and did not survive the crash. The driver of that vehicle, as well as an adult passenger, were transported to a local hospital with major injuries.

Following the initial crash, the truck collided with a third vehicle that was directly in front of the second vehicle. Due to the impact, the truck rolled over, landing on its roof. The driver was ejected and was taken to a different hospital with moderate injuries. Two other vehicles crashed into the two vehicles that were hit, since they had landed in the opposite lane, and two people suffered minor injuries from that impact. While the investigation is ongoing, CHP does not believe drugs and alcohol were factors in the collisions.

This truck driver apparently made a decision to pay attention to his cellphone when instead, he should have been paying attention to the road ahead of him. As a result, a child has lost her life, and several people have suffered varying degrees of injuries, including the truck driver himself. Many California residents likely find car accidents such as this one very difficult to comprehend, since they seem so preventable if only people would put away their phones. The victims' families may consider contacting an experienced personal injury attorney to discuss their legal options.