Street Wise

Police officers keep the streets safe every day. Now they want to teach you about driver safety.

My 21-year-old daughter Casey was killed by a distracted driver in July of 2009. She was walking across the street in a crosswalk on a beautiful summer day when a distracted driver rolled through a stop sign and hit her. Casey was thrown forward and run over by the tires of a delivery van. Casey was conscious for a few minutes.

I can’t help but think about my child, lying on the road, alert, knowing what had happened and wondering how scared she must have been.

I frequently drove distracted before Casey was killed. I would read texts, e-mails, eat, talk on the phone and look at papers while driving. I did so even with the people I loved most in the world — my children and my wife — as passengers. I was lucky I never killed a family member or anyone else’s child, but I no longer drive distracted. I changed the way I drive because of Casey’s death.

You’re not an exception

I know you may think you’re an experienced driver; you’ve never been in a crash; that it only takes a few seconds to read or send that text; that nothing bad will happen; that it’s an important call or text and that you’re a good multitasker. I’ve heard those same excuses — futile attempts to explain what happened — when speaking with those who have killed while driving distracted.

Distraction is now believed to be responsible for more than 50 percent of serious teen crashes. In 2015, distraction-related fatal crashes increased on a percentage basis more than drunk, drugged or drowsy driving crashes. Preliminary fatality estimates for 2016 look even worse than 2015.

Setting an example

While we may believe we are always acting to keep our children safe the reality is that if we drive distracted we are exposing our children to risks from our driving and also setting a bad example. Taking chances while driving, and offering excuses for why we drive distracted, even with those we love most in the world as passengers, doesn’t make much sense. But to make matters worse, as we drive distracted with our children watching we are teaching them that it is okay to do so. Our children copy our behaviors, good and bad.

Teens whose parents drive distracted are nearly three times as likely to also drive distracted. I have spoken with parents whose children died in one car crashes because of distraction. It’s impossible to convey the look on the face of a bereaved parent, or the anguish in their voice, when wondering whether their child was texting at the time of their death because they had seen mom or dad texting. As parents we want to be the best role models we can for our children but we are failing when it comes to safe driving.

Building a safer culture

If you have driven distracted with your kids in the car tell them it was wrong to do so and ask for their help in reminding you not to drive distracted. Children as young as 5 years old are helping keep their parents and themselves safe by doing just that. If you have teen drivers in the family, have that same conversation with them but resist the urge to lecture your children about their driving. This conversation should be all about your habits.

Be the driver you want your children to be. Each and every time you drive, model safe, distraction-free driving for your children.