Houston injury lawyer notes that a growing number of U.S. schools and families have lost members of their student bodies and of their families to two poorly recognized killers: drowsy driving and distracted driving.
A father in Leander, TX whose son died in a car accident from texting while driving is working to raise awareness among other students of the danger of this common practice. Louis Neill and his wife tell others that their son, Scott, stood as an example of a responsible teen who thought his parents maybe worried a bit too much about him.
But it seems that like most other people his age, to whom texting is second nature, he had fallen into the practice of sending an occasional text while driving. Scott Neill sent a text while behind the wheel, suddenly left the road, crashed into a tree, and died.
His father, Louis Neill, reminds others that we don’t get re-dos if we make deadly mistakes. He’s leading an effort to get other students at Scott’s high school and elsewhere to take a pledge not to text while driving. Students see the wisdom in that. They see the evidence of the consequences of texting while driving before their own eyes in Scott’s empty seat at high school.
Kyle Kiihnl, another high school student, died while on a walk with a friend because another teen high school student fell asleep at the wheel and struck him with his vehicle. Kyle Kiihnl received fatal injuries from that tragic wreck. Kyle’s father, Jim, and numerous members of his family have worked together to build the Eye Opener 5K and Fun Run to raise awareness about the dangers of drowsy driving.
The efforts of these two families and their supporters follow a course charted by victims’ families decades ago. Those families sought to raise awareness of the dangers of drinking and driving. MADD was one of the organizations that led that effort. Now most people are aware of the dangers of drinking and driving. But the problem remains.
Houston injury lawyers are already beginning to notice laws and penalties against drowsy driving and distracted driving take effect around the nation. Let’s hope that they have a good effect in curbing these two dangers on our U.S. roads in Texas and throughout the nation.