Texting while driving blamed for Monday crash

Texting while driving blamed for Monday crash

Lawrenceburg Now

A crash that occurred along U.S. Highway 43 Monday afternoon was reportedly the result of texting while driving.

Officers with the Lawrenceburg Police Department responded to the crash in the vicinity of 1200 Highway 43 South, just before 1:00 p.m. The reporting officer indicates that while speaking with one of the drivers involved, the man admitted that he had been looking down to read a text message prior to the crash.

He said that when he looked back up he realized that he had crossed the center lane into on-coming southbound traffic, which resulted in him side-swiping another vehicle.

The officer reports that when he asked the driver, identified as forty-nine year old Jay Cooley Barton of 150 Gillespie Road, Five Points, for his driver’s license, he stated that he “didn’t know where his license was.”

The officer ran a check and learned that Barton’s license had been suspended due to his failure to provide proof of insurance. When he asked Barton about what he had learned, the officer notes that he admitted he did not have a license or insurance.

Barton was placed under arrest and transported to the Lawrence County Detention Center where he was booked on charges of driving while texting, driving on a suspended license, and failure to provide proof of insurance. He was incarcerated in lieu of a $3,000 bond.

Barton is scheduled to answer the charges in Lawrence County General Sessions Court on January 5, 2018.