California Mother Talks to Teens About the Dangers of Distracted Driving

A mother from Oakdale has made it her mission to discuss the dangers of distracted driving with area teens, as she and her husband still mourn the loss of their teenaged daughter who died while texting and driving.

Bonnye Spray tells the story of her daughter Amanda’s tragic accident nearly every week with the hopes her story can save the lives of other teenagers who engage in distracted driving without fully realizing its potentially deadly consequences.

Like many teenagers, Amanda believed she could use her cell phone while driving and still maintain complete control of her vehicle. One afternoon, Amanda rolled her car while talking on her cellphone. She walked away from the accident with only scrapes and bruises, but she was shaken by the crash and vowed to never again use her cell phone while driving. However, just one year and one day after her first accident, Amanda died after driving off a freeway embankment while texting.

Last week, Mrs. Spray shared the story of her daughter’s passing with a group of teenagers at Downey High School, and she has plans to reach thousands more teens through her affiliation with Impact Teen Drivers, an organization comprised of emergency medical technicians, teachers, health professionals and traffic safety advocates that aims to reduce teen driving fatalities.

For the 2016 - 17 school year, Impact Teen Drivers scheduled nearly 150 presentations which will educate more than 5,000 students about safe driving practices and the dangers of driving while distracted.

Because April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, several presentations are planned throughout the month at numerous high schools across California, as well as many other states across the nation.

All presentations will provide teenagers with important facts and statistics from the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration regarding distracted versus un-distracted drivers. Some of these facts and statistics include:

• Drivers are three times more likely to get distracted and crash if they have two or more passengers in the vehicle with them.
• Drivers are 12 times more likely to be involved in a distracted driving accident if they reach for their phone or check a text message.
• Drivers are 16 times more likely to crash if they respond to a text while behind the wheel.
• In 2013, more than 3,150 people in the U.S. were killed and nearly 424,000 were seriously injured after being involved in a crash caused by distracted driving. Ten percent of these victims were teenagers.
• Teenagers are more likely than other motorists to drive while distracted.
• Auto accidents are the number one killer of teenagers.

If you were seriously injured or lost a loved one due to an accident involving a distracted driver, an experienced and compassionate Sacramento, CA auto accident attorney at the Arnold Law Firm can help you get the justice and compensation you deserve. To schedule a free consultation, contact our personal injury lawyers today.

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