Driver Charged in Texting-While-Driving Incident

Criminal charges have finally been lodged against Jack Dillon Young, the young man who allegedly caused an auto accident in Texas that killed 13 people back in March of this year (see this blog, Apr. 2, 2017). At the time, Mr. Young admitted that he had been using his cell phone at the time of the crash and that he had taken prescription drugs, according to a news report.

Among the multiple charges against Mr. Young are 13 indictments for intoxication manslaughter and manslaughter; one for each of the accident's victims. There are no charges directly related to his cell phone use because apparently it was not a specific crime at the time of the accident.

Perhaps prompted by widespread media coverage of the accident, in June of this year Texas passed a law banning texting while driving. The law will take effect on Sept. 1, making Texas one of the last states to adopt some form of texting while driving ban. The three current holdout states are Arizona, Montana, and Missouri.

Mr. Young is currently free on $380,000 bail pending his trial.