Faces of Distracted Driving: Julie Davis, 58 "One second she was there, and the next she was gone"

Wisconsin's roadways are on their way to becoming safer now that the state is the 30th in the country--in addition to DC and Guam--to ban texting while driving.  Their new primary law, which went into effect today, carries fines between $20 and $400 for drivers found text messaging behind the wheel.

This is a great step in the right direction.  And if you have any doubt about how important this is, I urge you to listen to Laurie Hevier's story.

Laurie, who I met at our second national Distracted Driving Summit in September, lost her mother Julie because of a distracted driver in central Wisconsin. We have featured her story on on distraction.gov in our recently launched "Faces of Distracted Driving" series.

Julie Davis lived a quiet life in Rudolph, WI.  She ran a small hobby farm with her husband Larry and spent her days knitting, tending her vegetable garden, and making jewelry.  But her true passion was for her friends and family--especially her fourteen grandchildren. 

"She said being a grandma was one of the busiest jobs, but she loved it," Laurie said.  "She was at every event - if she could make it, she would go."

But her time was cut short on April 15, 2009.  That afternoon, she set out for a hike near her home with her best friend.  As they walked beside the road, a 19-year-old driving at 70mph struck Julie from behind, killing her instantly. 

There were no skid marks, no signs of attempted braking.

As Laurie puts it, "One second she was there, and the next she was gone."

Phone records and the accident investigation indicated the driver who struck Julie was likely distracted by her cell phone.  Crash reconstruction reports showed that the driver must have taken her eyes from the road for almost 9 seconds to miss seeing two pedestrians.  And two witnesses saw the driver swerving back and forth just prior to the crash.

The collision that took Julie Davis' life was not a fluke accident; like the nearly 5,500 other fatal distraction crashes in 2009, it was the tragic outcome of a choice. 

As Laurie says, "You make a decision when you get behind the wheel and drive your 4,000 to 5,000 pound vehicle.  You are supposed to be safe and drive that vehicle from point A to point B, and your focus should be on the road."

I agree. And that's why we need good laws, like Wisconsin's new texting ban, to keep drivers' focus where it needs to be.

But we also need drivers to take personal responsibility for safe driving. Because, as Laurie says:

"Even if you ignore all of the statistics, and you think the risk is low, and that it won't happen to you, the consequences are huge."

 

If you have a distracted driving experience you'd like to share, please post a video on YouTube and email a link to faces@distraction.gov.

Comments

[KJ]

I would personally love to see a device in each car that blocks all cell/text capabilities from phones. I've had way too many near misses from someone with their hand glued to their head talking and making notes while not giving a single damn about anyone or anything around them.

In a case where someone is hurt or killed while someone is making a choice to pay attention to their "toy" rather than to driving I feel that it should be a felony crime with the maximum punishment.

There is no excuse for this type of selfish, inconsiderate and arrogant behavior.

[frankenfish]

I quiet liked the idea of new fine system. Driving and text messaging is indeed not a done thing. They not only endanger themselves but other safe riding person on the road too. The sad story of Julie Davis even made me support for this move.

[John Doke]

I wish there was a way to disable cell phones for all drivers. Not only is texting while driving is dangerous but talking on a cell phone while driving is also dangerous. Maybe someone will come up with a solution to stop any driver from using a cell phone.

[Jason B]

There is software out there right now that works by disabling the phone once the vehicle has started moving. It currently only works with "smartphones" but the technology already exists! I do not have a smartphone therefore I cannot attest to their functionality but here are two vendors that currently offer the ability to disable cellphones with vehicles in motion;

https://www.textarrest.com/Default.aspx

http://www.zoomsafer.com/

[J Bieber]

A new device should be invented and fixed to all cars by law that jams cell phone signals in the car while the engine is running. And it should be a compulsory inclusion in all new vehicles, Could save a lot of lives instead of issuing non enforceable laws on paper.

[Dawn]

Device in each car that blocks all cell/text capabilities from phones would be a horrible idea. First look at the lives that have been saved do to cell phone use. In cases of car accidents, hijackings or robbery, child abductions, and battered woman. You will be taking away a life line with such a device. We have heard stories of people being saved by the cellphone running in a car of an abduction.

Law is the only good answer as in DUIs make strict laws and education before making snap judgement such as devices that could just like the cell phone take a life.

[Steve Graham]

80% of traffic accidents involves the eating of food. If you want to save lives and make roads safer, ban drive-thru restaurants and eating while driving.

[Natalie Guba]

Cellcontrol only blocks the drivers phone and is much more reliable that the above mentioned GPS Solutions, which often fail. Cellcontrol is a device that fits in the car's obd diagnostic port. It is very easy to install and notifies the administrater when it is disabled or tinkered with.

[metabolicdiet]

proper voice activated , hands free phones would also solve some of the problems.