 A Wisconsin truck driver accused of using his smartphone before causing a fatal accident near St. Paul is facing criminal charges. Washington County prosecutors say 28-year-old Wayne Hicks of Independence, Wisconsin is charged with criminal vehicular homicide in Tuesday afternoon's crash that killed 54-year-old Robert Bursick of Amory, Wisconsin. Prosecutors say Hicks admitted to texting with his girlfriend and searching an app for houses on his phone prior to the crash in Lake Elmo. The complaint says Hicks was going 63 miles per hour and made no effort to stop before we're ending Bursick's vehicle. I have watched the video myself several times and as the colonel said it's absolutely horrific. It's described in detail. There were cameras or a split screen looking forward through the windshield also looking into the cab of the vehicle and according, as I put in the complaint, the driver is seen and appears to be looking at his phone for at least an entire eight seconds before striking the vehicle. He doesn't appear to look up into the windshield until the point of impact or after the point of impact once he's realized he's hit somebody. The vehicle was so damaged, one it was unrecognizable. The back end was pushed up so far all the way into the driver's seat. The sides of the vehicle were completely mangled. They were unable to extract him at the scene. So the vehicle was towed to a local fire department. My understanding is they spent hours taking the car apart in order to take his body out, correct? What we need to do is get to the point where we all say enough is enough. And we commit to putting everything else down and putting everything else away and giving our full attention to driving. And had that happened on Tuesday afternoon, there's no doubt in my mind that Mr. Bursig would have been home to his family instead of headed to the morgue. We do have an epidemic, as the colonel says on our road. One in four reported motor vehicle crashes is directly attributed to a distracted driver. An average of 65 lives a year are lost in Minnesota because of a distracted driver. This crash is just the latest in that litany of tragedies that litters our roadways and the ditches around them. Hicks could be sentenced to up to 10 years in prison if convicted. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax- deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.