The Last Text
By: Hannah Patterson
Information
- Texting while driving is a growing trend, and a national epidemic, quickly becoming one of the country’s top killers. Drivers assume they can handle texting while driving and remain safe, but the numbers don’t lie.
- According to safety.trw.com more than 3,000 teens die each year in crashes caused by texting while driving and more than 50 percent of teens admit to texting while driving.
Facts
- More than 50 percent of teens admit to texting while driving - - 5 seconds is the minimal amount of attention that a driver who texts takes away from the road. If traveling at 55 mph, this equals driving the length of a football field without looking at the road.
- Texting makes a crash up to 23 times more likely.
True Story of Texting and Driving Effects People
My son, John Breen – JB as we called him, thought he was invincible.
He was 23, a United States Marine and he was about ready to deploy to Afghanistan. He was willing to sacrifice his life for our country. It wasn’t war that took JB from us. It wasn’t a bullet or a bomb. It was a text message sent on a little 2” x 4” box that ended his life on a beautiful Sunday afternoon.
JB spent March 15, 2009 with his family in St. Francisville, IL, before deploying to Afghanistan. That night, while driving, JB was texting with a friend. He lost control of his vehicle and veered off the road. He was ejected from the vehicle and died from a massive skull fracture.
John with his daughter JB left behind parents, a brother, and countless friends who all miss him terribly. But what hurts most, JB has a beautiful two-year-old little girl who will never fully understand what an amazing man her daddy was.
JB knew better. In fact, not 24 hours before his crash his father warned him to “Put that phone down – it’s controlling your life.” Yet, he still chose to text while driving. And he/we paid the ultimate price. No parent should have to go through the pain that we went through and continue to go through each and every day.
Now when I see people driving while using their phones or texting I get so angry. I would just like to pull them over and tell them about JB – and how what happened to JB can happen to them too. Cell phone use while driving is an epidemic. Until enough people demand change we are all in danger.
JB’s last text: yeah t