A Gift To Help Your Loved Ones Arrive Safely This Holiday Season

As more and more people hit the road during the holiday season, it is a perfect time to remind motorists of the dangers of distracted driving. In 2013 alone, 3,154 people were killed in distracted driving crashes. Yet, while many drivers have the discipline to ignore those invitations to engage in a phone call or text, others find it hard to stop themselves.

Joel Feldman and Dianne Anderson know all too well the devastating impact a distracted driver can cause. Last week, they were on The Today Show to share their story of loss after their 21-year-old daughter Casey was hit and killed by a distracted driver six years ago. Since then, they’ve made it their mission to help prevent similar tragedies from happening. All you need to do is hear their story.

Nikki Cline lost her son when he answered a text, lost control of his car and hit a tree. Nikki bought her son a Smartphone for Christmas, just after he turned 16, so that they could stay connected between football practices, school, baseball, basketball and his restaurant job. Nikki laid down rules: If I call you, you’d better answer. If I text you, you’d better answer. And don’t text and drive. Weeks after her son’s death, Nikki looked at his phone and confirmed what she knew in her heart she was the person he was texting.

Every day, we hear or read about the devastating results of distracted driving. This epidemic must stop. If you are one who just can’t put the phone down or turn it off when you get behind the wheel, there is help. While most cell phone carriers can help teens break texting and driving habits, Cellcontrol’s DriveID™ may give parents greater peace of mind for just $130. DriverID is an app-driven system that simply affixes to the windshield under the rear-view mirror and disables the ability to text, e-mail, surf the web, play apps (i.e., Candy Crush), Tweet, Snapchat, take selfies and much more when the vehicle is in motion. While the system prevents the driver from texting and driving, it does allow passengers to talk, text and browse. And 911 is always allowed. DriverID also provides speed notifications to parents and logs and reports hard braking incidents. Some believe it is the most robust system on the market today.

Although with the holidays comes an increased risk of an auto accident, many can be avoided by simply putting the phone down or if the beeps and buzzes are too tempting, get an app such as DriverID.

Mark Bello is the CEO and General Counsel of Lawsuit Financial Corporation, a pro-justice lawsuit funding company.