Crime & Safety

Texting May Have Been the Cause for Late-Night Car Crash in Attleboro [VIDEO]

The Attleboro Police and Fire departments responded to a car crash on Spruce Street shortly before midnight Friday.

Michael Angelo of 7 Spruce St. was relaxing at home shortly before midnight Friday when he was told by a neighbor of a car crash in front of his home. 

A mix of heavy rain and text messaging may have been the cause of Matthew Allard, 18, of Attleboro losing control of his black Volkswagen and crashing it into Angelo's pickup truck, which was parked on the street. The impact of the crash forced both airbags of Allard's car to deploy.

Allard suffered minor head injuries and declined medical treatment at the scene. Allard, who was visibly upset and crying, was given a citation for text messaging, according to Joseph Daday. 

Find out what's happening in Attleborowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Massachusetts’ new distracted driving law prohibits drivers from texting while behind the wheel of a motor vehicle and bans use of all cell phones by drivers under age 18. The bans took effect Oct. 1, 2010.

Angelo said the driver must have been driving "pretty fast" because the impact of the crash pushed his heavy pick-up truck off the road and onto the sidewalk. 

Find out what's happening in Attleborowith free, real-time updates from Patch.


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