Smartphones. Friends in the car. Smartphones. Radios. Smartphones. Food. Smartphones.

They can all be distractions, and a moment’s distraction can make the difference between life and death. Joel Feldman knows that. The Philadelphia area man is crusading against distracted driving, now that his 21-year-old daughter – a pedestrian – has become a victim.

Feldman tells WTAX News a truck driver was reaching across the cab for a GPS and killed her seven years ago.

“I was so angry at this man after Casey was killed,” he said. “I was so angry and I kept questioning, how could he do this? how could he do this? And then one day it dawned on me. He was reaching for his GPS. I would program my GPS while driving. I would text while driving. So I felt like a hypocrite. I felt like a hypocrite. That was the turning point. I knew I had to change the way I drive or else I was going to kill someone else’s child.”

Feldman says one thing you can do is download an app that sends a message that you’re driving and you’ll be in touch when it’s safe.

Underwritten by Springfield-based Horace Mann, Feldman made his presentation to District 186 high school students Monday.

www.endDD.org

If you look down at your phone, you could look up to see blue and red lights in your rearview mirror.

“There are a lot of different behaviors,” says Maj. Brad Carnduff of the Illinois State Police. “Troopers are looking for these every day to try to curb (distracted driving) from happening.”

It’s against the law to text and drive. It’s also against the law to talk on a cell phone — other than hands-free — while driving.

Carnduff says the motoring public should have faith in the state police and IDOT safety programs; as of last week, so far this year, 341 people lost their lives on Illinois highways. At this time last year, the number was 415.

With the New Year comes Illinois’ new ban on using hand-held electronic devices behind the wheel.

Lt. David Byrd of the Illinois State Police says as soon as the law goes into effect on Jan. 1, officers will be handing out tickets to drivers who are using their phones.

“We don’t have a grace period,” Byrd said.

The first offense will result in a $75 ticket. Byrd acknowledges that the new law should make it easier to catch other violations, such as drivers who text while driving. “The excuses won’t fly as much as they used to,” Byrd said. “Some of the excuses we used to hear is ‘Oh, I was making a phone call.’”

Drivers can still make calls if they have a hands-free device.