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Two years ago, my husband and I were rear-ended while at a stop light. The man in the truck behind us was on the phone and being distracted, assumed when the turn light changed, ours did too. He rammed into us, throwing our car into incoming traffic.

He was apologetic and admitted it was his fault. Big deal. Two years later, we are still suffering from that accident. We are still in pain and still forced to take pain medications just to be able to live a much less active life than before the accident!

By being on the phone, he put his and others lives in danger. Simply by his choice, he caused us both to go through multiple medical visits and treatments as well as causing my husband to be unable to teach his classes and therefore caused our family to gather huge debts. We are still in debt which will continue until we are both settled (I am, my husband isn't) which we are forced to deal with - again, only because the driver was on the phone.

His insurance paid for the car repairs and hopefully we will get paid back for all the other expenses but there are two years (and more) that we will never get back. Is there ever a reason to answer the phone, or make a call, when you can take away years from someone?

The driver of the truck that hit us, said he was calling his boss to let him know they had finished their job and were moving on to the next. His passenger was looking up an address and didn't notice the stoplight's color. It didn't matter, it wasn't his responsibility. It was the drivers and he choose to ignore that and make a phone call! So, here we are two years later, stuck paying for it!

Is it fair? No. Was it avoidable? Yes! All he had to do was make the call before he started driving or when he reached the next job. Sounds simple, yet thousands of drivers a day choose to pick up the phone while driving even though we are all aware of the consequences. Therefore, without a legal ban, I can't see it ever changing. It is the safest and sanest option I know. And trust me, I wish I didn't!

Learn more about this author, Kristy Stevens-Young.
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