31 Day Countdown Begins to Hand's Free
TextLess Live More Recognizes New Georgia Distracted Driving Law
TextLess Live More celebrates and recognizes Georgia's new distracted driving law, House Bill 678, which goes into effect in 31 days on July 1, 2018. Georgia Governor Nathan Deal signed the house bill into law on Wednesday, May 2, 2018 at a ceremony in Statesboro, Georgia, surrounded by families who have suffered loss due to distracted driving, including the parents of the five nursing students killed in a 2015 crash with a tractor-trailer on Georgia's I-16. The truck driver pleaded guilty to texting prior to the tragic accident.
The law known as the "Hand's-Free Georgia Act" prohibits Georgia drivers from physically holding a phone, iPad, Kindle or similar device to text messages, record, broadcast or watch a video on their mobile devices while driving, including while at a red light or stop sign. "We live everyday with the pain and real consequences of distracted driving," adds Levitan. "We lost our beautiful 18 year old daughter to a young driver who was texting-behind-the-wheel on July 3, 2013, almost five years ago from the day this important law goes into effect." Merritt Levitan, a recent high school graduate, was struck by a distracted driver on July 2, 2013 near McCrory, Arkansas. Merritt suffered traumatic brain injuries and died the next day on July 3, 2013 in a Memphis hospital. TextLess Live More, a peer-to-peer national awareness campaign to end distracted driving, was founded by Merritt's high school friends in her honor.
TextLess Live More, a national awareness campaign to end distracted driving and save lives, offers a TextLess Live More Toolkit geared for middle, high school, college students, teachers and administrators and provides guidelines and ideas on how to start TextLess Live More at school or within a community. TextLess Live More in partnership with SADD has been presented to students and schools around the United States, including schools in Georgia
, Massachusetts
and Vermont
.