Lommen Abdo continues its effort to remind drivers to FOCUS ON THE ROAD®

8/5/2011

By Kate Westad, Personal Injury Attorney & Shareholder at Lommen Abdo

As a personal injury attorney, countless clients have told me that the driver that hit them was looking down at the time of the collision and was driving while distracted.

Those clients are alive to tell their story. Others are not so lucky.

Within the last year, I started a Facebook and Twitter account to continue Lommen Abdo’s public service campaign against distracted driving: Focus on the Road®.

Posting on my pages has been - at times - quite discouraging and heart wrenching.

Story after story, I hear of tragic texting while driving teen deaths.

For example, in March 2011, Lillian Propes, 16 years old and a junior at Tatum High School in Tatum, Texas, was driving on a State Highway when she got a text message from a new friend. Lillian decided to text and drive, lost control of her truck and crashed into a tree. Lillian died at the scene. 19 year old Heather Lerch was a first-year student at Centralia College in Centralia, Washington, where she was studying forensics and hoped to pursue a career in criminal justice. But on February 23, 2010, Heather was killed when she lost control of her car and crashed through a guardrail on her way home from work. She was speeding and texting at the time of the crash.

Think distracted driving doesn’t affect you? Distracted driving hits closer to home than you may think.

Like the Eden Prairie mom who severely injured a motorcyclist when she was texting and driving with two of her kids (ages 1 and 3) in the car this last Spring. The mom was subsequently criminally charged with criminal vehicular operation and child endangerment.

Another tragic and shocking seatbelt reminder happened on August 3, 2011, in southwestern Minnesota near Beaver Creek. A Massachusetts family’s SUV slammed into a bridge at 4:00 a.m. killing one unbelted child and critically injuring three other unbelted children.

Also, there have been 22 motorcycle deaths in Minnesota so far this year. In fact, motorcycle deaths are up by 30% for 2011 according to the Minnesota Department of Public Safety. DPS cautions motorists to watch carefully for motorcycles in traffic, and always to look twice before turning or changing lanes.

There are preventative things we can do to remind our friends and family to Focus on the Road®.

Did you know that parental involvement and restrictions significantly reduce risky behavior during a teen's first 18 months behind the wheel? Driving agreements between parents and teens can make these rules and restrictions very clear to your young drivers. Check out AAA’s Keys2Drive free online program which includes a parent guide and a parent-teen driving agreement. http://teendriving.aaa.com/MN/

Most of all, it’s important to speak up and tell your friends and family it is not okay to text and drive. With the upcoming Labor Day holiday and with school just around the corner, more and more of us will be in our cars each day. It’s a good time to remind us all to Focus on the Road®.

Show Focus on the Road® support by liking it on facebook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Focus-on-the-Road/74777592680 or following @focusontheroad on twitter.

Also, if you would like to join Focus on the Road®’s efforts to stop distracted driving, or have questions about distracted driving, contact Kate Westad at 612-336-9322 or kate@lommen.com.