TAUNTON - Driving down a dark narrow road on his way to his girlfriend's home, Craig P. Bigos began a text message. As he typed, his car veered off the road and he struck what he thought was a mailbox, prosecutors say.
But Earman Machado, a 13-year-old riding his bike alongside a friend who was walking, was struck and killed.
Gregg Miliote, spokesman for the Bristol County district attorney's office said yesterday that Bigos told investigators he did not realize he had struck the teen until the next day when he drove past the accident site and saw police troopers. Miliote said that Bigos turned himself in to New Bedford police Thursday afternoon.
Bigos, 31, of New Bedford, was arraigned yesterday in Taunton District Court on charges including motor vehicle homicide, leaving the scene of an accident resulting in death, and driving without a license. He was released on $5,000 bail.
The accident comes amid attempts by several state legislators to ban the use of hand-held cellphones by drivers in the Bay State.
Numerous bills legislators filed this year to change the law have failed to gain traction on Beacon Hill, but Representative Joseph F. Wagner, a Chicopee Democrat and cochairman of the Joint Committee on Transportation, said yesterday that he plans a new push for legislation, currently in his committee, that would ban drivers' use of text messaging and hand-held cellphones.
"The primary responsibility of people operating a motor vehicle is to drive," Wagner said. "That requires a lot of time and attention, and things like cellphones and other types of technology that allow for communication between people are obvious distractions."
California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Washington, and the District of Columbia have banned drivers from using hand-held cellphones, although hands-free devices are allowed.
In May, Washington became the first state to also specifically ban text messaging for all drivers. New Jersey followed in November, and other states are considering similar measures.
Machado was sleeping over at the home of a 13-year-old friend Wednesday night, prosecutors told the court yesterday, and the teens had gone out at 12:30 a.m. to meet two girls who lived in the neighborhood. Machado was riding the bicycle and his friend was walking on the soft shoulder of the road that runs parallel to Route 24, and Bigos was driving from his mother's house in New Bedford to the home he shares with his girlfriend of 12 years on Williams Street in Taunton.
Authorities did not release the name of Machado's friend because he is a minor.
Accident attorney Aaron T. Strojny told the court that Machado died of severe head trauma.
Yesterday, bouquets of flowers, a teddy bear, and a baseball cap inscribed with the words "You will always be missed" adorned two pine trees on Poole Street, near the spot where Machado was killed. At the foot of the trees, two candles flickered in glass jars decorated with pictures of Jesus. At Benjamin Friedman Middle School, where Machado was in the eighth grade, principal John J. Cabral said he was making preparations for counselors to talk to the teen's classmates when classes resume next week.
"He was a great kid, a kid that any parent would be proud to call their own," Cabral said. He said Machado's friend was not one of his students. Cabral said that Machado was not on any school teams, but that he "had a passion for football."
Bigos's driving record shows his license expired in October 2006 and has not been renewed because he has failed to pay the excise tax on his car. He was also cited for speeding in July 2006 and failure to stop at a traffic signal the year before, and was involved in a 2003 accident deemed to be mostly his fault. He had so many traffic violations that in 1997 he was made to complete a national safety course for drivers with poor driving records, according to the Massachusetts Registry of Vehicles.
Bigos's lawyer, Daniel R. Igo, portrayed his client, who works at a restaurant in New Bedford, as a law-abiding father of four who has never been convicted of a crime and has never violated a court order.
Bigos is scheduled to return to court Jan. 23.
Yesterday morning, during a bail hearing for Bigos after his arraignment, a young man who said he was the victim's brother sat on a bench at the back of the courtroom with another teenage boy. They both wept.
"This accident is evidence of why it's dangerous to use a cellphone and drive at the same time," said Representative Martha Walz, a Boston Democrat who supports banning cellphones for drivers.
In October, a 17-year-old high school student was killed in Charlton when her car went off the road and hit a tree as she drove to school. Police believe text messaging played a part in the accident because she received a message at 7:22 a.m., and the accident occurred three minutes later.
"As more and more technology gets into cars, there's more room for distractions and people should be more vigilant about their primary responsibility, which is to maintain control of their vehicles," Trooper Eric Benson, a spokesman for the State Police, said yesterday.
State Police said they were unaware of any other accidents caused by text messaging in Massachusetts, but as the technology has become more popular nationwide, so have crashes caused by the distraction. According to news reports, in 2005, a Tennessee man died after he lost control of his pickup truck while attempting to send a text message. A 17-year-old in Colorado was sentenced to 10 days in jail last year after killing a bicyclist while looking at a text message on his cellphone.
Massachusetts police can hand out tickets for distractions that impede driving, such as having unwieldy items hanging from a rear-view mirror or eating while trying to drive, but the law specifically allows use of cellphones as long one hand remains on the wheel.
According to an in-depth study released last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, nearly 80 percent of all crashes and 65 percent of all near-crashes occur when drivers are distracted; the survey found the leading cause of distraction is dialing or talking on cellphones.
A survey released this year by Nationwide Mutual Insurance found that 19 percent of all drivers - and 37 percent of drivers between the ages of 18 and 27 - engage in text messaging while driving. Wagner said his committee has reviewed about a dozen proposals, so it's hard to say what final legislation would look like. Previous bills have included $250 for the first violation.
"If you want to drive a car, drive a car. If you want to talk on the phone, talk on the phone. But don't do both at once," he added.
