Faces of Distracted Driving: John Sligting, 56 "Distracted driving cost me my father"

This weekend, families across America will gather to honor fathers.  But for Charlene Sligting, this time of year is a sad reminder of everything she lost.

It was four years ago to the day that her dad, 56-year-old John Sligting from Round Lake Beach, Illinois, left work on his motorcycle.  On his way home, he was killed when a teen driver talking on her cell phone rolled through a stop sign and into his path.

"Distracted driving cost me my father, the most amazing person I will ever know," said Charlene Sligting. "I'll never have a chance to make new memories with him.  My son will never get to know his grandfather."

Charlene is now part of the National Safety Council's HEARTS Network, a community of individuals and families who have been affected by crashes involving teen drivers.  She is also a victim advocate who speaks out against distracted driving.

"Driving is a cognitive action and talking on your cell phone is a cognitive action.  Our brains are not wired to toggle between two cognitive things."  

Charlene hopes that sharing her dad's story will encourage everyone to put safety first this Father's Day weekend.

"We all make choices when we get behind the wheel, and those choices have consequences.  Please keep those you care about safe: Don't use your cell phone while driving."

If you have a distracted driving experience you'd like to share, email faces@distraction.gov.

Comments

[Linden Houston]

Thank you for posting this. This is a really touching story and while it is sad to hear Charlene lost her father, I applaud her in telling her story because it puts a human face to the consequences of distracted driving.

[Andrei]

Talking on the cell phone is just one of the dangers. Another one is getting behind the wheel when you're angry, overexcited, or worried about something. This may keep bothering you while you're driving so much that you might as well miss that stop sign or a pedestrian.
I think I've heard it on the radio somewhere that lots and lots of accidents are caused by drivers who were arguing with someone - either with a passenger or by someone on the phone...

[David S. McQueen]

Finally someone is presenting "distracted driving" with adult language (instead of with cartoons and emotional histrionics). Charlene commented, "Driving is a cognitive action and talking on your cell phone is a cognitive action. Our brains are not wired to toggle between two cognitive things."

We've heard too much about "multi-tasking" as if it were an admirable attribute. Professional drivers like myself have long understood that operating a vehicle of any size SAFELY requires concentration; any distraction diminishes that ability to a degree.

[Auto Transport]

I used to not think that talking on the phone was that big of a deal but realized that I'm SO distracted when on the phone and that I'm really not paying that much attention to what I'm doing and am doing my best to not talk unless it's important and I can pull over if I have to take the call. Not to mention EVERY TIME our car has almost been hit by another driver, that person is almost always on their phone.

Hopefully my kids will learn from my example to leave the phone be when driving; already my 12-yo offers to answer the phone or read aloud a text to me when I'm driving! :)

[PTP]

With our lives becoming more stressed and commutes getting longer, seems like distracted driving will increasingly become a major issue in coming years. It's worrisome because more car crashes are already the leading cause of death
for teens in the United States, more than homicide
and suicide combined! I wish DOT good luck with it's distraction.gov efforts to succeed in getting the teens to believe that "talking on the phone is totally Un-cool!

[DMV Practice Test]

It's now more important then for everyone to set aside their distractions when driving. We have more people on the road and more distractions both inside and outside of the car. Teen Drivers especially need to learn how to drive with out distractions.