Parent to Parent: Distracted Driving

WSVN -- Linda Silva: "He played soccer. He was a chess master. He was very bright, had lots of friends, loved to party."

Alex silva never made it past the age of 19.

Linda Silva: "It was on June 25th, 2009."

He was driving home from a friend's house only seconds away from his front door when he lost control of the car.

Linda Silva: "Went over the swale, overcorrected, hit the tree and the median and died instantly. One of the officers, a friend of his actually, had said that it looked like he had dropped his phone."

Alex was apparently texting behind the wheel.

Linda Silva: "There were a lot of things going on to just make it the worst day for us ever."

Linda Silva: "The statistics are very scary."

Pediatric nurse Maricar Cabral says texting and driving is sending more teens to the ER.

Maricar Cabral: "We see everything from just a normal fender bender, to a full blown trauma because of texting and driving."

Alex's mom is using her loss to save lives, educating young people about the dangers of distracted driving.

Jose Rada: "The numbers indicate that about 20 percent of crashes of anyone between the age of 15 and 20, is due to a distracted driving event."

On this day, Linda is speaking to more than 800 students at Pine Crest School about the senseless accident that took her son's life.

Jose Rada: "Kids don't understand that when they go out that they may never see their parents again."

And the kids were listening.

Mahlet Yared: "One text can wait, it's not worth losing your life."

That's the message Linda will continue to spread in the hopes of saving more young lives.

Linda Silva: "Especially for the families that are waiting for them to come home and they're never going to see their children again."

Lynn Martinez: "Linda and another mom also started a web site to help parents who've lost children it's called Angels on your Shoulders."

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Broward-Dade Safety Council:
Tel: (954) 763-4505
www.browardsafety.org

Broward Emergency Nurses Association:
www.browardena.org

Injury Prevention Symposium:
Nova Southeastern University
Friday, Nov. 18, 2011
Email: mcabral@mhs.net