About 300 people came together in Tampa for Florida’s first-ever distracted driving summit on Wednesday.
Kristin Murphy was one of them. She shared her grief about the loss of her daughter, who was killed by a distracted driver.
“I never in a million years thought I’d be burying my daughter the way I had to bury her,” she said.
A distracted driver hit and killed Murphy’s daughter, who was pregnant at the time, Murphy said.
Her heart-wrenching story wasn't the only one, as other parents told of their experiences.
“Our life has never been the same since,” said one father.
New App To Stop Texting While Driving
The summit’s purpose was to raise awareness about distracted driving, and to urge state legislators to enact a ban on texting and driving. Florida doesn’t have one, but 39 states do.
Government statistics show sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for an average of about 5 seconds. In 2010, more than 3,000 people in the U.S. were killed in crashes involving a distracted driver.
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U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood was at the summit – and also wondering why Florida lawmakers seem to be ignoring what he calls an epidemic.
"I think you need to call legislators and ask them that question,” LaHood said.
