Pennsylvania Injury Lawyer Blog

Recently, Joel Feldman of the personal injury law firm Anapol Schwartz sat down with NBC Philadelphia to talk about the video “Casey Feldman, A Face of Distracted Driving.” The video tells the story of Casey Feldman, who was killed on July 17, 2009 after she was struck in a pedestrian crosswalk by a delivery van in Ocean City, New Jersey. The van driver was driving distracted.

In the year and a half since Casey’s death, her family and friends created the video, which is featured on the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) website. The video is dedicated to raising awareness about distracted driving to keep Casey’s memory alive, and to get people to think about what they’re doing when they’re behind the wheel.

In the interview, Mr. Feldman states, “We’re making a difference. We have learned there are no guarantees. You could be here today, but who knows about tomorrow. So if you’re going to make a difference, you better do it today.” He continues, “When people learn about Casey, they will know she certainly was someone who made a difference, so we want to continue to do that in her name.”

The video about Casey is the first video on the DOT’s website to feature driving distractions other than the use of cell phones. While cell phone use is certainly a problem for motorists, Mr. Feldman notes that distractions come in all sizes and shapes, and hopes that when others see Casey’s video, “they will think about it [distracted driving] more seriously and maybe change their behaviors. That’s our hope.”

Mr. Feldman believes that motorists no longer view driving as their primary focus when behind the wheel. All too often, motorists are multi-tasking and doing other things besides focusing on the road, and most motorists have become too comfortable with doing so while in the car. He says, “Think about all the distracted drivers who killed other peoples’ children. They probably thought the same way: I could text, use my cell phone, I could drink my coffee or change the CD; they all felt the same way.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), 5,474 people were killed and an estimated 448,000 people were injured in motor vehicle accidents in the United States in 2009 that were reported to have involved distracted driving.

View more videos at: http://www.nbcphiladelphia.com.

The Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation is proud to announce that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) has accepted their video Casey Feldman, A Face of Distracted Driving. The video will be featured in the DOT’s ongoing video series “Faces of Distracted Driving”. The goal of the series is to draw attention to the tragedies of distracted driving to help prevent future distracted driving-related deaths.

The “Faces of Distracted Driving” campaign features videos made in-house by the DOT and chronicles the stories of those who have died because of distracted driving. However, unlike the other videos, Casey Feldman, A Face of Distracted Driving, was produced by Casey’s father, Joel Feldman. Mr. Feldman is a prominent attorney at the personal injury law firm of Anapol Schwartz. The video is the first to feature driving distractions other than the use of cell phones. In the video, family and friends of Casey are interviewed, to tell both her story as well as their own, including how their driving habits have changed since Casey’s tragic accident.

Casey, who was a college student in Springfield, Delaware County, was killed on July 17, 2009 after she was hit in a pedestrian crosswalk by a delivery van in Ocean City.

When interviewed by The Philadelphia Inquirer, Mr. Feldman stated, “We hope these stories will cause some of us to rethink our responsibilities as drivers. We are proof that tragedies can happen to anyone.”

To learn more about how you can prevent distracted driving tragedies like Casey’s, visit EndDD.org (End Distracted Driving), a website recently launched by The Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation, and watch Casey Feldman, A Face of Distracted Driving.