The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Grieving parents plead for safe driving habits
Son's death at hands of a distracted driver prompts public service message
Kellie and Eddie Montalvo find it difficult to speak about the death of their 21-year-old son, Benjamin, that was caused by a hit-and-run driver who was texting seconds before she hit his bicycle on a Corona street four years ago.
But the knowledge that their story could save the lives of others motivated the couple to record a public service announcement for the state Office of Traffic Safety, and Caltrans that began airing Wednesday during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
In the announcement, Kellie Montalvo, shown sitting in front of photographs of Benjamin in her home, says “I’m not a spokesperson. I’m a mom whose son was killed by a distracted driver” as soft piano music plays.
In 2021, the most recent year for which data is available, 140 people were killed in crashes related to distracted driving in California, according to OTS spokesman Timothy Weisberg. In 2022, 3,308 people died nationwide in such crashes, he said. The Corona Police Department wrote 839 citations in 2023 for people texting or talking on a cellphone without a handsfree device, Weisberg said.
“We just do it in honor of him,” Kellie Montalvo, 59, said after a news conference Wednesday at Cresta Verde Park, where a bench sits as a memorial to Benjamin. “It is so difficult and you know, a little scary to stand up there and do it, but he was just such a great human being and we’re very frightened by what we see on the road now. We just constantly see people on their phones.
“We know there are more ‘Bean Dips’ and unfortunately,
more to come,” she said.
The Montalvos often refer to their youngest son as Bean Dip, a childhood nickname bestowed on him after his three older brothers convinced little Ben that those were his given first and middle names.
“We wouldn’t want any
other family to go through the same thing we’re going through, and that is the reason why we do it,” said Eddie Montalvo, 66. “Hopefully, people listen out there and think about what they do.”
The state Vehicle Code says drivers are prohibited from operating a motor vehicle while holding a telephone
or electronic device unless it is designed to allow voice-operated and handsfree use, Weisberg said. The driver may use a feature or function by a single swipe or touch. No driver younger than 18 may use a phone, even hands-free.
Barbara Rooney, the OTS