On Saturday afternoon, Nov. 13, a beautiful day out, hardly a cloud in the sky. No snow to contend with, no rain-soaked leaves on the road, not even an animal crossed his path. Should not have any problems driving, right? Sounds like a good day to go for a drive.

That same afternoon my husband was hit head on by a 17-year-old driver who crossed the center line after not keeping his hands off the cell phone while driving. It doesn’t seem to matter that the child was 17, because this happens everywhere, at every age.

Virginia Tech has done a study regarding the hazards of driving while talking on the phone or while texting, and has concluded that people are 20 times greater chance of having a serious collision while texting than if driving without the cell phone. They cite that eye gaze analysis gave an average of over four seconds per every 60 seconds of the eyes leaving the road to text if the subject was texting, sending the traveler the course of a football field at 55 mph before they looked up. (www.vtnews.vt.edu/articles/2009/07/2009-571.html)

This has to stop. Point…blank…period.

Nothing is so important in a text or phone call that it has to be looked at while driving. Nothing like that is worth someone’s life.

My husband now has a serious hip fracture, and will be in a hospital for weeks. He will miss Thanksgiving with his family. He will also probably have a lifetime full of pain.

For the person who hit him, my family and I have forgiven you. Christ has forgiven us so we hold no grudge against you. I know you will carry this with you for the rest of your life and pray you were not seriously hurt as well.