Occasionally we see a story in the news that moves us enough to repeat it and spotlight it here. This was a report featured recently on WTHR in Indianapolis.
It’s a graphic example of what can happen in a split second when a driver takes his eyes off the road.
Logan Scherer was a 9-year-old boy who loved the beach, playing piano and going to Walt Disney World. He brought joy to his family. But the Scherers no longer have their son because of a crash on a Florida interstate on September 15, 2016. The Scherers say their SUV was struck by a driver who was distracted on the phone as he was going more than 90 mph.
Even though this tragic accident happened just over 2 years ago, Logan’s parents have recently decided to do something to keep Logan’s spirit alive and, hopefully, to provide a strong enough warning to other drivers that when you hear “Don’t Text and Drive,” we need to take it seriously.
The Scherers are now pleading with people to put the phone down when they are driving. It is an effort they refer to as Living for Logan.
Logan’s mother, Brook, commented to reporters, “We were complete sitting ducks. Our car was an accordion between the car behind us and the car in front of us. It was literally smashed. We all should have died that day. All of us should have died with Logan.”
“There was no braking. There was no attempt to swerve,” said Logan’s father Jordan, Scherer. “He was just that distracted.”
“Anything that takes your eyes off the road and your hands off the wheel is incredibly dangerous. If we survived this, then what are we going to do with it? We can’t just let it be for nothing,” said Brooke. “We want to educate, create and encourage change. We want people to look at our story and say, they were just regular people and this happened to them or the guy who hit us. He was just a regular person who happened to make a bunch of mistakes. And look what he did. He took the life of a 9-year-old boy and he wrecked the life of an immediate family.”
“What people don’t realize is it takes only a split second to change many lives forever. And, is that text worth it? Is the phone call worth it?” said Brooke Scherer.
In Indiana, since 2011 there has been a distracted driving law on the books that bans texting and driving. The Scherers don’t think that goes far enough.
Brooke states “What about the social media? The snapchatting. The watching movies. The Facetime. It’s grandparents. It’s teenagers. It’s parents. It’s everybody doing it.”
The Scherers want Indiana and other states to toughen laws requiring people to use hands-free features while driving. Until that happens, the Scherer family is pleading for people to make changes in their habits behind the wheel. If you use GPS, set it before you start driving. Put your phone out of reach. Put it in the backseat. Put it in the glove compartment. Or just turn it off.
“We know life is fleeting. Tomorrow isn’t guaranteed,” said Brooke.
We truly hope that this type of tragedy never happens to you. However, if you or a loved one is a victim of a negligent driver, we can often help. Please contact us immediately and tell us your story. The attorneys at Tauber Law Offices will listen carefully and determine if you have a case. If so, we will represent you every step of the way and be as aggressive as we need to be in order to provide some compensation for your loss. It can never replace a child, of course, but at least the law is there to provide some justice and perhaps discourage others from taking chances that could result in a deadly tragedy.
Story content courtesy WTHR TV, Indianapolis
