That's why Wayne Hogan, president of the Terrell-Hogan Law Firm, expanded the End Distracted Driving Campaign for teen drivers. It gets the message out to kids early, before bad habits form. Last spring, the firm began visiting local high schools to give presentations to teens. The campaign's goal is to help save lives by sharing the stark realities of how taking a life by distracted driving can ruin their futures.
Terrell-Hogan offers these free presentations to Jacksonville, Florida high schools throughout the school year. This program was created and inspired by the Casey Feldman Foundation and the End Distracted Driving Student Awareness Initiative in memory of Casey Feldman, a 21 year-old pedestrian who lost her life to a distracted driver.
The law firm's goal is not to tell kids what to do, but to give them the facts. This information is intended to show them the faces of distracted driving and its tragic consequences, so that it sinks in and they can make smarter choices to be safer on the road. The presentation delves into some of the long-term consequences of causing an auto accident by driving while distracted including losing a license, a livelihood (for those who drive for a living), or taking a life.
While Florida is one of a handful of states that does not yet have a law banning texting or hand-held phone use while driving, Wayne Hogan predicted that it is just a matter of time before prosecutors began treating texting like drunk driving, and bringing manslaughter charges when texting while driving causes a death.
In fact, an 18-year-old teen in Massachusetts, who killed a man while texting and driving, was sentenced to 2 ½ years in jail last June. One of the first things personal injury attorneys and insurance companies do when investigating an auto accident is request the driver's cell phone records to determine if he or she was using a device at the time of the crash.
No text or call is worth it. We can all help make the roads safer for everyone by avoiding distracted driving. Arrive alive.
To find additional information on the research, statistics and more about driving while distracted, visit Distraction.gov, the official US Government website on distracted driving. Wayne Hogan is a board certified civil trial lawyer and the president of the Terrell-Hogan law firm in Jacksonville, Fla. For more information on Wayne Hogan, the Terrell-Hogan Law Firm and this educational campaign, visit http://www.terrellhogan.com.
