This is a guest post by Fix The Toaster contributor David Little.
In early 2012 I watched a news story on the dangers of distracted driving. It was then that I realized I had a story to tell and perhaps could have a hand in changing the way we look at cell phones and driving. My education began, and I learned as much as I could about this epidemic, so that I could speak and write on the subject and perhaps change some behavior and even save a few lives.
What I wasn’t prepared for was the number of new friends I would make in a relatively short period of time who were also advocates. A few I have met face to face, but the vast majority are social media connections. Scattered all over the country. Unfortunately, many of my new friends have paid the ultimate price. They have lost children, parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, husbands and wives all in 100% preventable car crashes. Crashes caused by cell phones.
Last year my wife and I attended an Advocates Workshop where families who have been affected by distracted driving crashes could learn to be better advocates and tell their stories. 30 families were represented and I was one of 3 in attendance who were actual survivors of these crashes. 3. Everyone else had lost a loved one. One young lady I met, who was paralyzed from the chest down due to a distracted driving crash, expressed a feeling of guilt for being there. I felt the same way. I cannot think of any other way to describe it.
I would be lying to say it wasn’t difficult to be there. We were surrounded by so many hurting families. We shared meals with them, and coffee and cookies during our breaks, and we searched for the appropriate words even in simple small talk. Still, it was moving and uplifting to meet these brave souls who have decided to share their stories. Dedicate their lives. Sell businesses, change jobs, even quit jobs, so that they can talk to groups about Distracted Driving and to publicly share their worst nightmare, over and over again in the hope that their message reaches just a few people and saves just a few lives, and knowing that their efforts won’t be in vain.
When I share, post, speak, comment, write and talk about distracted driving, I may use our story to make the point, but in my heart, and in my mind it is these families that I am always thinking of. When I see someone talking or texting, I think if Javier, Joe, Margay and Rachel. I think of Jennifer, Rusty, John, Katie, Chandler and Connor.
When you see someone talking or texting while they drive, who or what do you think about? Or, are you the one on the phone?