Teens hear dangers of distracted driving

KAYSVILLE — In spite of recent declines in highway fatalities, distracted and drunken drivers still threaten the lives of others on the road.

One young Utah driver, who knows the cost of distracted driving, regularly shares a critical message with teens. In fact, the courts ordered Reggie Shaw to share his story as part of his community service sentence after killing two men while he was texting and driving in Sept. 2006.

"When you get distracted, you're lethal," he said.

Shaw told his story at Davis High School during an assembly that included a very realistic re-enactment of a crash, complete with actors, theatrics, and fake blood. Those are the images that Shaw says he relives every day.

"You do not want to see this in real life," he told the students. "I promise you."

Shaw says he never meant to hurt anyone but now he is the pre-eminent example in Utah of why no one should ever text while driving.

"One bad act behind the wheel makes this real," Shaw said, referring to the mock crash. "On your way home today, on your way to lunch. It can happen any time."

Shaw served a 30-day jail sentence, and at first visited schools as part of his sentence. Now, he talks to students because he believes it's important for the students, and for himself.

"I have to live every single day knowing that I took two family's husbands away from them," he said.

Last year, 35 teens died on Utah roads. Shaw's message Wednesday caught at least some of the students' attention.

"I can't imagine what it would be like to be in that situation, where your friend's dead on the hood of a car," said Nicholas Mason, a student who participated in the re-enactment. "The time you're saving, or whatever you have to say (by sending a text while driving) isn't worth killing someone."

Utah's ban on texting while driving can lead to serious jail time, if offended.

"Simple things that you take for granted while driving can cause serious accidents, injury, or even death," Davis County Sheriff Bud E. Cox said.

Shaw hopes the students will remember a dangerous crash can happen any time, and can change lives forever, including their own.

"I can never give back the two lives that I took," he said. "I owe it for the rest of my life to try to save as many people as possible, and hopefully, I'm doing that."