SHELBY COUNTY, OH (WLIO) - Ohio officials reminding motorists today that if you are texting and driving, or using an electronic device other than making a phone call, that law enforcement will be pulling you over. And one Shelby County family knows the tragic result of distracted driving all too well.
"Less than 24 hours from now it will be illegal, with just a few exceptions, for any Ohio driver to use or hold an electronic device like a cell phone, while the same time driving," says Gov. Mike DeWine.
Governor Mike DeWine is kicking off a new educational campaign, that relays the simple message, "Phones Down, It's the Law". DeWine says that distracted driving crashes are not accidents, they are the results of choices that people make to take their attention away from the road and put it on their electronic device.
Leah Fullenkamp knows the results of that choice all too well. In 2018, her husband John was on a tractor in Shelby County pulling a piece of machinery when a driver, who admitted that she was on her phone shopping, hit him from behind killing him.
"Through the crash recreation, it was determined that the driver that killed John had 16 seconds to look up and see him," says Fullenkamp. "That doesn't seem like much time, but when you are behind the wheel that is an absolute eternity."
She now goes around the state talking about the dangers and effects of distracted driving.
"My hope is that my family's story does not become your family's story," adds Fullenkamp.
According to the Ohio State Highway Patrol, distracted driving has caused over 60,000 crashes and 209 deaths in Ohio over the last five years. But it's believed that distracted-driving crashes are significantly underreported. There is a six-month grace period where law enforcement will be giving warnings instead of citations. That will change on October 4th and they say it is best to get in the habit now.
"To put is simply, lock your phone, put it down, put it in the console, put it in the glove compartment, just get it out of your hands," adds DeWine.
