'Mom on a mission' still fighting for distracted-driving legislation

Nov. 19—Eileen Woelkers Miller said that as a mom she sometimes wishes people could know her pain, and understand the suffering distracted driving caused for her family.

She and her husband, Paul Miller, Sr., lost their son, Paul Jr., on July 5, 2010, when a distracted driver lost control of his tractor-trailer and slammed head-on into Paul Jr.'s car, killing him and injuring several others in another vehicle.

"I wish I could unzip my chest so they could visually look in and see how broken my heart is that I could never hold my son, never talk to him, never see him get married never have children," Miller, 60, of Scranton said. "If they could literally see how I feel."

Since Paul Jr.'s death, Miller has become a tireless advocate to pass legislation that would seriously address and, hopefully, deter distracted driving.

"My son died by something so preventable as distracted driving," Miller said. "I really don't want this to happen to anybody else. Every day the pain that you feel because of the loss of a child — I just don't want it to happen to anybody else."

And Miller adds that her husband was diagnosed with ALS, a terminal illness, soon after their son's tragic death.

Miller has been working with state Sen. Rosemary Brown for more than 10 years on trying to get Senate Bill 37 passed in the state legislature. Brown first met Miller when Brown was serving in the state House of Representatives.

SB-37, the hands-free legislation known as Paul Miller's Law was passed by the Senate in June and is now in the House.

"I have been working with Sen. Brown for over 10 years now — it will be 11 years come January — on the hands-free legislation," Miller said. "I knew fighting for justice for my son Paul was going to be hard, but I never in my wildest dreams thought that fighting for legislation would be this hard."

Miller said she expected the legislative process to be slow, but she said she is disappointed in the legislative process for not passing SB-37.

"It's very disheartening," Miller said. "I never thought it would take me 10 years to get common sense legislation — something that would save lives — so hard to pass. Meanwhile, people out on our roads are dying every day while they are not passing this legislation."

Miller knows in her heart that SB-37 will absolutely save lives.

"It's the best that we can do in Pennsylvania to get the phone out of their hands," Miller said. "I honestly just cannot understand why they would not want to save lives out on our roads and why the State Representatives themselves would not want to make the roads in Pennsylvania safe. The lives they may be saving just might be their own family members or their own lives with this legislation."

Miller said she made a promise to her son when she visited him at the morgue following the accident.

"I whispered in his ear that when I found out what caused his crash and how he died that I would make change," Miller said. "And it has taken me this long to try to get legislation to make that change — that is outrageous to me. I will never stop fighting for tougher legislation and for safer roads as long as I can speak."

Miller asks that people reach out to their state legislators and ask them to vote for SB-37.

"The life you might be saving might just be your own," she said.

Her advocacy

Miller has spoken to countless high school students, civic groups and community organizations on how distracted driving can result in tragic consequences.

She has spoken from her heart and she has displayed the graphic photos from her son's fatal accident.

Miller's son, Paul, was driving his vehicle on Route 33 in Hamilton Township, Monroe County, when a southbound tractor-trailer crossed the center grass divider and traveled head-on into his car.

At the time of the crash, the tractor trailer was being operated by a distracted driver.

Paul died from the injuries he suffered as a result of the crash — he was 21.

"On July 5, 2010, in one second, our lives were tragically changed forever because of something so preventable," Miller tells anyone who will listen. "Our handsome beautiful son Paul Miller Jr. lost his life to a distracted driver. Life is full of choices — what will your choice be?"

If Miller's emotional presentation isn't enough to convince the students to not text and drive, the graphic pictures she showed have an even greater impact.

Miller shows pictures of the accident scene, her son's crumpled car and she tells students that when she went to the morgue to identify her son's body, she couldn't.

Miller said the driver of the truck was charged and sentenced to three years in prison, serving 17 months.

Miller has spoken to hundreds of schools and she asks them to take a pledge to not text and drive. She uses an acronym — P.A.S.S. — that stands for no Phone, no Alcohol or addictive drugs, no Speeding and use Seatbelts.

"These tragedies are preventable," Miller says. "They are crashes, not accidents."

Miller volunteers her time advocating for her cause.

"I'm just a mom with a broken heart," Miller said. "I don't want anyone else to ever be in my situation. I want everyone to use their voices and their heads."

Are you 'intexticated?'

AAA Mid-Atlantic, which in recent years launched an initiative to reduce deadly distracted driving, cited a poll that showed 90% of Pennsylvania drivers believe distracted driving is as dangerous as drunk driving.

Amid National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, AAA Mid-Atlantic launched its "Don't Drive Intoxicated — Don't Drive Intexticated" campaign that links the impact of drinking and driving with distracted driving. Both are comparably dangerous and deadly, research shows, killing and injuring drivers, passengers, pedestrians and cyclists.

A person using a cellphone while driving is four times as likely to be involved in a crash as drivers who are not, AAA says.

According to NHTSA, "nearly 80% of crashes and 65% of near-crashes involved some form of driver inattention within three seconds before the crash event. Combating distracted driving through greater enforcement and education will protect all motorists.

Epilogue

As PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said, he expects that SB-37 will pass in the state legislature and Gov. Josh Shapiro will sign it into law.

When he was in the state legislature in 2010, Shapiro advocated for distracted driving laws.

"This is an issue I will not let die." he said in a published report.

Miller said she remains optimistic that SB-37 will soon become law.

"I'm always hopeful," she said. "I'm a mom on a mission, not a politician. But I'm going to get this passed."

Reach Bill O'Boyle at 570-991-6118 or on Twitter @TLBillOBoyle.