Texting While Driving Law And Virginia Legislature Criticized By Fairfax Judge

Texting While Driving Law And Virginia Legislature Criticized By Fairfax Judge

One night in May 2011, Jason Gage, an Alexandria man driving on a road in the Dranesville community of Fairfax County, struck and killed a college student named Kyle Rowley. Authorities later determined that Gage had probably opened a text message about the time of the crash. They charged him with reckless driving.

But when the case went to trial in a Fairfax County court last month, Judge Thomas E. Gallahue ordered the charge against Gage dropped, his texting notwithstanding. The reason: A 2009 Virginia law makes texting while driving a minor traffic infraction punishable by a maximum fine of $20, so texting alone could not be proof of reckless driving.

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