© 2024 All Rights reserved WUSF
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Personal Tragedy Spurs Creation of Group to Combat Distracted Drivers

Steve Newborn
/
WUSF

Five years ago, her mother was killed in a car crash caused by a driver who was distracted by a cell phone.

After Jennifer Smith laid her mother to rest, she embarked on a new cause - making sure this doesn't happen to someone else.

Smith, who lives in suburban Chicago, is in Tampa today to help kick off the state's first Distracted Driving Summit.

She's starting the Distraction Advocate Network, a nationwide group committed to raising awareness of the impact of distracted driving.

She says this is not only aimed at preventing other daughters - or  mothers  or sons - from having to go through what she did, but it's also a form of therapy - trying to make sure that their losses were not in vain.

11-132 Driving while texting 2way.mp3
{description}

Steve Newborn is a WUSF reporter and producer at WUSF covering environmental issues and politics in the Tampa Bay area.
You Count on Us, We Count on You: Donate to WUSF to support free, accessible journalism for yourself and the community.