It could never happen to us I said to myself in October of 1996 when my wife Lisa was diagnosed with breast cancer. It could never happen to us I said to myself as I stood at my wife's graveside on Christmas Eve 1999 holding the hands of my boys, five and eight. It could never happen to us I said to myself as a policeman drove into my driveway recently...
On Monday August 13, 2007 my fiancé, Stacy Stubbs, lost her life in Peoria, AZ when a selfish, immature, unthinking, irresponsible teenager hit her head on while sending a text message and attempting to control her vehicle simultaneously. I would like to thank everyone for the outpouring of support, food, childcare, memorial fund (a Godsend since Stacy was not eligible for life insurance), etc. It's a great relief in this overwhelming time to have such support from the community.
Since this wholly avoidable tragedy I have discovered that texting while driving is not illegal in Arizona. Actually it's not illegal in much of the country. HB-2129 (http://www.azleg.gov/DocumentsForBill.asp?Bill_Number=HB2129) is an Arizona law to ban texting while driving which was defeated in this past session. I will wonder for the rest of my life if passage of this bill may have saved Stacy's life...
Laws however are no substitute for common sense. I've been watching carefully and the amount of people yakking on cell phones, applying makeup, not using blinkers and speeding among other things is just appalling! Your car is not just a mode of transportation, it's also a two-ton weapon which deserves respect.
Everyone has asked me what they can do to help. Right now, this second, as you read this I would like to ask you to do two things:
1. Take a pledge to your self right now, out loud:
I will not text while driving. I will not use my cell phone while driving without a hands free device. I will use common sense while I'm driving. I realize it is a privilege to drive and other innocent souls, as well as my self, depend on my total concentration of the road and in the handling of my vehicle.
Talk to your teenage drivers about this, your neighbors, friends and family. Whoever will listen. Have them take the pledge as well.
2. Tell your local legislators that you support any and all bills dealing with hands free cell phone use and texting while driving. It doesn't take long via e-mail to contact them all, I beg you.
Congratulations to the Phoenix City Council who voted just last month to ban text messaging while driving. Now many of us would think that this is just common sense; however, that is not the case, especially among young people. It seems that Stacy's untimely death pushed the right people over the edge to take some kind of action. It’s kind of like the intersection where officials won’t install a traffic signal until enough people die.
New laws will never make us all safe but perhaps you may save the life of a six-year-old girl's mother from a small town in rural Arizona. Oh wait, it's too late for that...
