"I am a recovering distracted driver"

Why this father changed his habits and campaigns against reckless driving

Like many drivers, Joel Feldman would talk on his cell phone while driving, adjust his GPS, set his music, check out an incoming text at times, and eat occasionally while driving. Now, he says that is careless, selfish — and reckless.

    On a summer day in July 2009, his view changed suddenly when his daughter Casey, a Fordham University junior, was tragically killed when she was struck by a vehicle while crossing a street in Ocean City, N.J., with a distracted driving behind the wheel. After a criminal trial, the 58-year-old driver said he looked away “only a few seconds,” Feldman said.”He never saw her.”

    “How could he be so irresponsible?” said Feldman, a resident of Springfield, Delaware County, and a Philadelphia personal injury lawyer who has represented more than 100 families who have had a family member seriously injured or killed in traffic accidents involving a distracted driver. “Casey had her entire life ahead of her, and it was taken away in a matter of seconds.”

    Feldman said it took him a couple of months, but he now is “a recovering distracted driver” who allows his driving time to be focused personal time uninterrupted by any phone activity, texting or social media. “We all don’t need to have a tragedy before we change the way we drive,” he said, speaking last week to about 50 parents and teens at a program sponsored by the CB Cares Educational Foundation. April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month.

    Feldman addresses numerous school and community groups all over the U.S. about the risks and tragedies of distracted driving and ways to avoid the temptation. After his daughter’s death, Edelman returned to school and earned a degree in counseling and his family launched the Casey Feldman Foundation to campaign against distracted driving with its website, www.endDD.org.

    “We’re all respectful people, but we lose that respect for others at times when we drive,” he said, urging parents to model safe driving for their kids and urging teens to speak up when any driver — a parent or friend — is texting, talking on the phone, or applying makeup while driving, taking their attention away from the road.

    Accidents caused by distracted driving kill 10 people every day and injures more than 1,000, and the numbers are “vastly under-reported,” he said. “There’s no blood alcohol test for distracted driving.” Feldman said someone is more likely to be killed by a distracted driver than a drunk driver.

    At 55 mph, a vehicle can travel about 80 feet in the one second a driver’s eyes glance away from the road. A driver who looks away for four seconds travels longer than a football field. “A caring driver never looks away. Someone who uses their phone while driving is selfish,” he said, wearing several colorful wristbands on both arms, each in memory of a young person killed by a distracted driver.

   Even though motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of deaths among teens, older drivers are more likely than teens to be distracted, in contrast to popular perceptions of teens addicted to their phones. A study by AAA found 51 percent of 25 to 39 year old adults admit to using their mobile phone for a call or text while driving. Comparatively, about a third of 16 to 18-year old drivers surveyed said they used their phone, ate or some other activity while driving. Many adults say they need to be available or fear missing out on something, while driving.

    “When I talk to kids and ask them if their moms and dads drive distracted, all of the hands go up,” he said, sharing memories of his once vibrant daughter. “I tell the students they must speak up, but to do it respectfully. Caring people speak up; caring people don’t let friends drive drunk; caring people don’t let friends text while driving. Our children are the most important persons in our lives. I tell the parents, you can change, like I did. The first step is to avoid temptation and make driving your only task.”

    To the parents in the audience, Feldman said, “What behaviors do you teach the kids while driving. Be the driver you want your kids to be,” he said. “Tell your kids you’re wrong and need their help, so you don’t use a phone while driving.”

    Feldman’s highly interactive presentation was the 15th program as part of the Positive Parenting speaker series, organized by the Central Bucks School District Education Foundation (www.cb-cares.org), and sponsored by Doylestown Health, the Central Bucks Family YMCA, The Fred Beans Dealerships, and Furia Rubel Communications, Inc., said Kimberly Cambra, CB Cares executive director.