Hang up while driving

Linda Mulkey has lived every parent's worst nightmare, burying her teenage daughter.

Lauren Mulkey, 17, died in a car crash, which statistics tell us is the most common cause of death for people her age. But this accident stands out because of the circumstances of Mulkey's death. Her car was struck by a 19-year-old driver who police say was speeding while trying to look for a friend's cell phone number. The driver ran a red light and collided with Lauren Mulkey's car.

In an instant, Linda Mulkey's only child, a beautiful and gifted young woman who had graduated early from East High School and had been attending Westminster College, was gone.

Linda Mulkey has made a courageous decision to use her late daughter's image to raise awareness about the perils of distracted driving. Lauren Mulkey's photograph appears on two billboards in Salt Lake City, one of which is located across from Lauren's alma mater, East High School. The billboard space was provided by Reagan Outdoor Advertising for free.

The issue has received other attention. A month after the accident, which occurred in the early hours of March 18 at 2100 South and 1300 East, Salt Lake Mayor Rocky Anderson signed an executive order prohibiting certain city employees from using cell phones or texting while driving. Linda Mulkey was in attendance when the order was signed. Salt Lake County had previously enacted such a ban.

A growing number of states are leveling similar restrictions on teenage drivers. Some have gone so far as to prohibit cell phone use among all drivers. State lawmakers recently passed a careless-driving law that covers using a cell phone while driving, searching for an item in the vehicle or attending to personal hygiene or grooming.

Research conducted at the University of Utah shows that distracted drivers were just as likely to get in a crash as intoxicated drivers. No doubt, using a cell phone while driving poses serious public safety risks.

Drivers need to acknowledge that driving is a full-time responsibility. If they need a reminder of what is at stake, they need only to look at the billboards of Lauren Mulkey, a young athlete and budding artist whose life was cut tragically short.