"Fortunately for all concerned the child was strapped in to a good quality car seat and both occupants escaped serious injury. When spoken to at the scene the mother admitted she was reading a text just prior to the crash."
Sgt Blow said another incident - where texting is also believed to be involved - happened yesterday when a man crashed into a stationary vehicle on the side of the road on SH1 near Hautapu Rd between Hamilton and Cambridge.
He said a man had pulled over to the side of the road to check why his car's Bluetooth device had crashed.
"While he was stationary a man who police believe was texting at the time, has not noticed the stationary vehicle on the side of the road and has ploughed into the rear of it shunting parked vehicle into an adjoining paddock."
The driver who crashed was taken to Waikato Hospital by ambulance with minor injuries while the innocent driver was shaken and left contemplating the damage to his car.
"Here we have an example of a person who has done the right thing by pulling over to address a concern whose vehicle has then been hit by another, driven by someone who appears to have been driving while distracted.
"Driver fatigue and distraction is a real killer on our roads."
Last year driver fatigue and distraction were considered contributing factors in 10 out of the 22 fatal crashes on Waikato roads.
