After the car crash, two helicopters airlifted my son and another passenger to the hospital for multiple surgeries. The driver and two other people were also transported to a closer facility for operations and multiple night stays in the hospital. After 31 days of hope and setbacks, we lost Evan in front of our eyes.
The driver claimed he fell asleep at the wheel and that’s why the collision occurred. People visiting us in the hospital asked if the cause of the crash could be attributed to texting and driving. After all, this happened on a daunting, windy road and it was during morning rush hour traffic. Sleeping appeared unlikely to me and many others. Honestly, I didn’t care what the cause was, because we had more pressing matters to deal with. Besides, I had confindence the police would do their job investigating the circumstances and I would focus on my job of advocating for my son while he fought for his life.
What I learned is that there is no protocol in place to effectively investigate distracted driving crashes.
Though my own civil lawsuit, I subpoenaed the cellphone records and not only discovered texting activity during that drive, but also, that the phone was still in the car for weeks after the crash - just sitting in a junkyard. The police never looked for the phone nor the phone records; this revelation had to come from my own efforts.
At first I thought there was a faulty investigation but what I surprisingly discovered was that there is nothing in place.
We unwittingly discovered a whole broken system.
Critics have stated solutions are not needed because there are already systems in place. That is erroneous and very dangerous because it conveys a false sense of security that a very serious problem is being addressed…. Yet we are now at a 50-year high in car crashes.
Don’t assume more drivers on the road are causing the record number of crashes.