happy + healthy
distracted driving
A Few Fatal Seconds
They say time heals
all wounds, but for
me, it’s not so easy.
You see, on February 22, 2018, my only
child was killed just 26 days before her
18th birthday, and three months before
she would have graduated from Thomp-
son High School. My sweet daughter
Camryn “Cici” Callaway was distracted
by her cell phone while driving home
from work. In the course of only a few
short seconds, she went from wishing
a friend happy birthday to slamming
her brakes as she slid underneath an
18-wheeler on I-65.
In 2016, the most recent year for which
there are National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration statistics, distracted
driving crashes caused
3,450 fatalities and nearly
As I tragically learned, teens with their
long list of social media messaging apps
are particularly at risk. They are a shock-
ing four times more likely than older
drivers to get into accidents caused by
distracted driving… Crashes caused by
cell phones or electronic devices are
As parents, we are not being the role
models our children need to see if we are
riding down the road with our phones
in our hands while we are driving. You
can tell them to not be distracted by their
phones while they drive, but what will
they follow, your words or your actions? The average text takes only five seconds
to read. Only five seconds of looking
down to read the messages that have be-
come such an enormous part of our lives.
| Spring 2020
The ripple effects of one distraction have
caused a lifetime of pain and grief, for
me, my family, and my daughter’s friends.
Cici was a wonderful daughter who
made a very tragic mistake. Nothing will
bring her back to me, but if I can save
other parents the pain of burying their
own children, I owe it to her to continue
reaching out to everyone and bringing
awareness to distracted driving, especially
by a cell phone.
DISTRACTED DRIVING KILLS!
PLEASE PUT DOWN YOUR
PHONE AND JUST DRIVE.
400,000 injuries.
Yes, she made a mistake, like many of us
do every day. Admittedly, I used to be
one of those who would glance down to
check my phone. At red lights, stop signs,
or even just when the flow of traffic felt
easy enough to shoot off a quick text. But
all that ended for me almost two years ago.
We all know just how dangerous drunk
and drugged driving is, and we’ve agreed
as a society that Driving Under Intoxi-
cation (DUI) is an offense that deserves
to be strictly policed and punished. It is
time to add Distracted Driving to that
list. It is the drunk driving issue of our
time. Distracted Driving is just as deadly
and irresponsible as driving drunk. We
must all realize that our driving habits
matter!
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A few decades ago, hundreds of thou-
sands of mothers across the country rallied
to bring awareness to the dangers of
Drunk Driving. I am now one of the
many parents, grandparents, friends, and
classmates of the far too many victims of
Distracted Driving. Now we are the ones
trying to shine a light of awareness to the
life and death consequences of Distracted
Driving.
100% PREVENTABLE.
But at 55mph, well below the
speed limit of the interstate,
you will cover the length of
an entire football field with
your eyes off the road.
Between you and the end of that football
field length of highway stands an entire
life you might end too soon.
www.potentialmagazine.com
Michelle Lunsford and FOCUS
collaborates to provide Distracted
Driving prevention education to students
across the state. Michelle presented her
powerful message of losing her daughter
at the 2019 FOCUS Rallies and will be
a presenter at the 2020 South Alabama
FOCUS Rally to be held at Lurleen B.
Wallace Community College in
Andalusia, AL.
Michelle Lunsford is
a National Safety
Council advocate
working for the
“Road to Zero”
mission to eliminate
roadway deaths over
the next 30 years. After the loss of her only
child, Camryn “Cici” Callaway due to
distracted driving by her cell phone, she
has been working with Alabama legislators
to push for the “Hands Free Alabama” bill
that will be re-introduced at the capital in
March 2020. She is a frequent speaker at
schools, churches, teen driver summits and
trauma prevention programs.