Distracted Driving Kills: Local Mother Featured in SGI Ad Campaign

"My daughter's dreams ended when she was 17, and it's all because of her phone."

Those are some of the words spoken by Sandra LaRose in an SGI distracted driving ad campaign, "Distracted Driving Kills".

LaRose’s 17-year-old daughter Kailynn was tragically killed last August when the vehicle she was driving collided with a train. She said she became involved with SGI when she met Joe Hargrave, the Minister Responsible for SGI, for the first time last fall.

“I had suggested to him and offered up Kailynn's story for an ad campaign, because, I said, there really isn't an in-your-face ad campaign like they do for impaired driving,” she said.

LaRose noted she had decided even before Kailynn passed away that she was going to be a voice against distracted driving.

“I had decided, even when Kailynn was in the hospital, before I got the police report, that if her phone had anything to do with it, I wasn't going to keep quiet, because, why would I? It's such a preventable thing that needs to be drilled into peoples' heads, that it is preventable,” said LaRose.

While prevention strategies include fines for distracted driving, LaRose said she feels those fines aren't costly enough, at $280. Considering distracted driving is the leading cause of collisions and injury on Saskatchewan roads and one of the leading factors in fatal collisions. In 2017, 26 people died and almost 1,000 were injured from distracted driving. The fines alone, however, won’t accomplish the goal without people understanding the real cost.

“Your life is priceless,” she said. “There is no amount of money that will bring Kailynn back. I would rather have paid a $1,500 fine than to have to lose her. So, for the people that think that money-grabbing is all that SGI and the police are about, think about what you said. It’s not a money-grab. They’re doing their jobs to keep people safe, and they would gladly never collect a cent if they could. ”

She said it’s never worth driving distracted, because multitasking is, ultimately, a myth since the human brain can not divide attention without compromising focus.

“There's nothing that important,” said LaRose. “You're never in your car for that long that you can't pull over or call them back or anything. And it's not just phones, all those mini ads they did, too, are really great. You know, kids in the back seat, spilling coffee and digging through your purse, and putting makeup on."

LaRose spent some time with the Saskatoon Police for a traffic blitz yesterday. She said her presence did help a few change their perspective, for there is nothing like meeting the bereaved mother of someone who passed away unnecessarily.

She noted one young lady she had also met that day had received four distracted driving ticket since January. LaRose said she hopes they do implement a more strict fine schedule, since the phones aren’t going anywhere.

“Phones are now habitual. They're attached to us, they're part of our life,” she said. “When you hear it ring or you hear that ding of a notification, you instantly grab it. So, if you break that habit in the car, by putting it in the back seat, the glove box, the trunk if you're that bad with the habit. You break that habit and you start a new one. Habits can be broken, and new habits can be made. That's all you have to do.”

View the SGI Distracted Driving ad campaign HERE.

Watch a presentation that was live-streamed yesterday from the campaign launch, which features LaRose and Minister Joe Hargrave, HERE.