Texting While Driving Leads to Accident

A Seymour man who crashed on Route 34 just after midnight Monday said the accident was caused by texting while driving, according to police.

Joseph Debiase, 34, told police he dropped his cell phone while texting and then crashed into a utility pole as he tried to pick it up, Resident Trooper Sgt. Dan Semosky said. Luckily, he said, nobody was injured in the crash.

“This underscores the dangers of texting while driving,” he said. “It shows that anytime you have something that diverts attention while driving a motor vehicle, it’s not a good thing.”

The accident occurred near the intersection of Route 34 and Riverbend Road, which is close to Route 188 near the Seymour line. The accident closed a roughly quarter-mile section of Route 34 for close to seven hours Monday morning while Connecticut Light & Power crews repaired the pole. Power was disrupted to area homes Monday morning, but it was unclear how many.

Debiase was issued an infraction for using a mobile device while driving and failure to drive right.

The National Safety Council issued a statement last year that said it's findings show 1.6 million car accidents every year, or roughly 28 percent of them, are caused by drivers using cell phones and texting.