Local attorney partners with national End Distracted Driving campaign in hopes of saving lives
NORTH TEXAS - More than 3,000 lives are taken by distracted drivers each year, according to statistics from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Distracted driving crashes happen on North Texas roads daily, which is why there's a local push to have drivers think twice before picking up their cell phones while behind the wheel.
Travis Patterson, who is a personal injury attorney, spoke at Southwest Christian School in Fort Worth, which is one of several high schools across North Texas reaching students and young adults in the driver's seat.
Patterson has partnered with the national campaign, End Distracted Driving, in hopes of being part of the solution on a local level. The EDD campaign was created by Joel Feldman and Dianne Anderson after losing their 21-year-old daughter.
Casey Feldman was killed by a distracted driver in 2009 on the way to her summer job. It's a story all too familiar to families across the nation.
"Not a day goes by that our law firm doesn't get a phone call that someone got hit, someone got seriously hurt because of distracted driving," Patterson said.
Experts say it takes an average of 30 days to change a habit. Patterson is on a mission to change driving habits in less than 50 minutes. Patterson believes a safer future on the roads starts with teens and young adults.
At SCS, students joined him for an interactive assembly provided with resources to help them understand the impact of distracted driving and practical approaches to avoid it.
"Y'all are the most empathetic generation of young people our generation has ever seen," Patterson said.
The 50-minute group conversation had 18-year-old Madison Stone and her classmates thinking about the effect their choices have on their loved ones.
"After seeing the phone calls families have to get after someone crashed into their person or loved one was the aftermath of that, it makes it easier to speak up to someone driving distracted," she said.
Alarming statistics show that 1 in 5 crashes in Texas were caused by a distracted driver in 2022. Those accidents caused 364 deaths and around 2,200 injuries.
The message was taken to heart by the gym full of students, with some making the commitment to use the 'do not disturb' or 'driving mode' setting to help resist temptation.
"If it can automatically send a text to somebody, it takes it off my mind that there might be something urgent I need to get to, I'm sure there's a way someone can get ahold of me if something terrible happens," student Zachary Moroneso said.
Patterson also shared a message for parents.
"No. 1: Be a good role model. No. 2: Sit down with your kids and talk to them; Walk them though what losing them would actually do to you."
Patterson says he's on a mission to speak to every high school in North Texas that will have him. A follow up survey shows 92% of the students say they are less likely to drive distracted and more likely to speak up in the car with a distracted driver after hearing his presentation.
To learn more about Travis Patterson's visit at SCS, you can click here. You can also learn more about the national EDD campaign at EndDD.org.