Delco, Montco and the Commonwealth of PA Establish Distracted Driving Awareness Month at the Urging of the Casey Feldman Foundation
Joel Feldman Speaking at the Montgomery County Commissioners Meeting
At the urging of the Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation and Casey’s Feldman’s father, Joel D. Feldman, the Commonwealth of Pa and Delaware County, Pa. established April as Distracted Driving Awareness Month. A similar resolution was passed last week in Montgomery County. Casey’s parents, Dianne Anderson and Joel Feldman were on hand at the County Commissioners meetings in Delaware and Montgomery Counties to speak and were presented with copies of the resolutions.
“We all have to make a decision as to how we will drive,” stated Joel Feldman. “Will we continue to take chances, continue to multitask and continue to drive selfishly, or will we decide that driving distracted can never be worth the risk? It took my daughter’s death for me to change the way I drive. It should not take personal tragedies for all of us to change the way we drive.”
Shown above are, front from left, Dianne Anderson, Councilman Dave White and Joel Feldman, and back row, Council members John McBlain, Mario Civera Jr., Chairman Tom McGarrigle and Colleen Morrone.
Joel has been speaking to high school students over the past month and continues to do so virtually every day, rushing off after the Delaware County Council meeting to speak at Agnes Irwin School in Rosemont, Pa. “The students are so receptive”, reported Joel. “The students realize that this is not just a teen problem. Not only are they willing to eliminate their distractions while driving, they are willing to talk to their parents and encourage them to do so as well.”
The Delaware County Council resolution reads in part:
Whereas, Casey Feldman, a promising 21-year-old woman from Springfield Township, Delaware County, was killed by a distracted driver in July 2009 and has become a symbol of the toll of distracted driving; and,
Whereas, Casey’s family and friends established the Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation which is dedicated to reducing distracted driving for the safety and well-being of everyone, and through which distracted driving awareness presentations to more than 50,000 high school students are being given across North America, including in Delaware County, during April in connection with Distracted Driving Awareness Month; and
Whereas many of us routinely take chances while driving,… We…declare April 2012 to be Distracted Driving Awareness Month…. We urge everyone to examine their driving habits and promise to protect ourselves and others on the road by reducing our distracted driving habits.
Montgomery County. L to R: Leslie S. Richards, Vice Chair; Joshua D. Shapiro, Chair; Bruce L. Castor, Commissioner; Dianne L. Andedrson; Joel D. Feldman; Michael Monheit
“The bottom line is that we would like something good to become of Casey’s death,” said Dianne Anderson, Casey’s mother. “If we can prevent this from happening to another person, then we have accomplished something in Casey’s name and memory. It gives us gratification to know that Casey’s death would not have been in vain.”
Related Links:
Commissioners remember teen with Distracted Driving Awareness Week, The Times Herald – April 5, 2012
Distracted Driving Awareness Week to Begin Sunday, Montgomeryville-Lansdale Patch, April 5, 2012
April Distracted Driving Awareness Month, The Daily Times- April 11, 2012
County Council joins parents of Casey Feldman to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving , Delaware County Council – April, 2012
County Council and Feldman Family raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, Delaware County Council, April, 2012
