A couple of weeks ago, many of us here at ThinkStreet had the fortunate opportunity to help our client, the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), stage the very first Texas Distracted Driving Summit in San Antonio. Along with TxDOT, ThinkStreet’s Candice House brought together USAA and Shriners Hospitals for Children to cosponsor the daylong gathering, which was inspirational and informational. Over 300 lawmakers, healthcare and business professionals, educators and advocates attended, and U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood gave the keynote address. And, wow, what a life-changing day it was—not just for us ThinkStreeters, but for everyone in attendance.
You may or may not know, but ThinkStreet developed the distracted driving campaign “Talk.Text.Crash.” for TxDOT that is being seen across the state. Because of it, we’re well aware of the statistics, and they’re staggering. Last year alone, almost 5,500 people were killed in the U.S. in crashes that involved driver distraction. That’s 16% of all fatal crashes nationwide, and experts actually think that number is probably low and under-reported due to the difficulty of ascertaining cell phone use at the time an accident report is filled out. Today’s drivers face an assortment of distractions diverting their attention from the road, such as navigation systems, stereos, applying make-up, eating, conversations—you name it. The biggest culprit of all is, of course, the cell phone.
But the Summit introduced us to more than statistics and trends. We met incredibly brave and strong family members who lost loved ones to vehicle crashes caused by distracted driving. Of these, probably the most emotional moment of the Summit came from hearing and meeting with “the Berry Boys” from Houston. Nearly a year ago, a distracted driving crash killed both their parents and left two of three siblings, Aaron (age 9) and Peter (age 11) paralyzed; Willa (age 6) was injured but recovered. After meeting privately with Secretary LaHood, these amazing little guys wrote and delivered to a filled ballroom their own impassioned plea against distracted driving. You can read the boys’ speeches (written and delivered by them) here:
On the Sunday after the Summit, the Houston Chronicle ran a multi-page article about the Berry family tragedy, which you can read here:
Distracted driving is a dangerous epidemic—and we owe it to the brave families who have senselessly, needlessly lost loved ones to distracted driving but continue through their pain to speak out against using cell phones while driving. It definitely made an impact here at ThinkStreet. We’ve made an agency “pact” to always put our phones in the glove compartment while traveling in our cars and to never call someone when we think they might be driving. We owe this life-altering behavior to the brave families who shared their stories.
Mark Scholz
Executive Vice President
ThinkStreet
