On June 25th, I went with Sharon Montgomery, who lost her husband to a distracted driver 14 years ago, to meet with Rep. Michael Sheehy to discuss the need for tougher laws related to texting while driving. Rep. Damschroder is sponsoring a bill to make Texting while Driving a primary offense, meaning that a police officer can stop a motorist who they see texting while driving. We believe that legislation and enforcement, along with education are necessary to change the culture, which will in turn drive behaviors. Even though texting while driving has proven to be more dangerous than drunk driving, our culture does not have the same visceral reaction to seeing someone texting behind the wheel of a car as they do seeing a drunk driver behind the wheel. There is no one magic bullet that can change the culture, but we believe that a combination of legislation, enforcement, and education can make that shift.

The day after the meeting, we received word from Rep. Sheehy's office that he has signed on as a co-sponsor of the bill.

Remember Sydnee