An incident that started with a man texting while driving ended with him being taken to jail. On Monday afternoon, Derrick Allen Davis, 24, was arrested by the Dalton Police Department for driving on a suspended driver’s license, leaving the scene of an accident, and texting while driving.
The incident happened just before 3 p.m. on Dug Gap Road when Davis rear-ended a woman’s car while driving a red Dodge Neon. The woman told police that after the collision, she pulled into a parking lot on Walnut Avenue to exchange information and report the crash but Davis kept driving, turning eastbound on Walnut Avenue.
The woman called police and a Dalton officer pulled Davis over on East Walnut Avenue.
Davis told police that he saw the woman wave and interpreted that as her saying to just keep driving. Davis told the officer that he was reading a text message when he hit the woman’s car. A check of Davis’ license found that it was suspended. He was placed under arrest for driving on a suspected license and the other charges.
This month, the Dalton Police Department has been working to educate the public about the dangers involved with driving while distracted. The department’s “Operation Thumbs Up” initiative has combined targeted patrols looking for distracted drivers in high crash areas with education efforts through traditional media, social media, and also presentations to different groups in the city. Monday afternoon’s crash can serve as a reminder that texting while driving and other distracted driving behaviors can easily lead to an accident.
Fortunately, neither driver in Monday’s incident was injured.