The Brown family road show pulled into Tampa’s Sickles High last week. At the behest of the Sickles PTSA, Father Johnny Mac, mother Jeanne and teen daughter Katrina were in town from Texas to address an assembly and drive home a point: It is downright dangerous to text while driving. Their daughter, 17-year-old Alex, lost control of her vehicle after sending a text message three years ago–and died at the scene. She was on her way to school.
Now the Brown family has dedicated itself to warning high school students across the country of the inherent risk in texting while driving. A life was tragically–and needlessly–lost, but they want to leverage that tragedy into a life-saving caution to other teens. By all accounts, their message was moving.
Unfortunately, this was just one Hillsborough County school and one hushed crowd of 10th- and 11th-graders.
Too bad Tallahassee hasn’t been on the Browns’ itinerary. Recall that for the last two years a bill to ban texting while driving couldn’t get out of a House subcommittee. Florida, which is driven to prioritize voter suppression, mandatory drug testing, higher-ed budget cuts and an FCAT sham, can’t find legislative support for a life-saving measure. This GOP-dominated state remains one of 12 that hasn’t banned texting while driving.