A garbage handler in Old Jefferson lost his leg Monday morning after a driver crashed into the garbage truck and pinned the worker between the two vehicles.
According to the Louisiana State Police, 41-year-old May Wen of Metairie, crashed her Toyota RAV 4 as she was texting while driving down River Road in Jefferson Parish on Memorial Day.
Troopers say Wen admitted to texting and swerved in an attempt to avoid the collision but still crashed into the truck, pinning the garbage handler working the back of the truck at that time. The worker’s leg was severed from his body in the crash.
As WWLTV reports, a spokesperson for the garbage company says the garbage hauler was taken by EMS to Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans in stable condition.
Wen was arrested by police on a charge of Negligent Injury, improper control of a vehicle and texting while driving. She was booked on a $650 bond according to a JPSO booking report.
The crash comes as the state House passed a bill aimed at prohibiting drivers from using a cell phone while driving.
Co-author of House Bill 376 and Louisiana Representative Mike Huval tells WWL's Tommy Tucker that his bill prohibiting a driver from holding a cell phone while driving aims at preventing such tragedies. Huval says he had to make some amendments to the bill but he thinks it will make a difference.
“There is a two-year sunset on this bill, which I think is good, it was amended this year,” said Huval. “I think this will work well but in the event there are concerns, there is an opportunity to just let it sunset away, or if it is doing some good, which I really feel it will do, it continues.”
