Distracted driving death has left Wright County family 'forever incomplete'

Greg and Amy LaVallee are marking an anniversary this year, but there is no celebration.

Instead, the Wright County couple are remembering the fateful day in August 2013 when a distracted driver struck and killed their 19-year-old son, Phillip, who was out running.

And they are asking drivers to put down their phones.

"Our family is heartbroken and forever incomplete," Amy LaVallee said during a recent Minnesota Department of Public Safety news conference. The event kicked off a distracted driving enforcement campaign coinciding with April's National Distracted Driving Awareness month.

Phillip had been one of the state's top high school distance runners and had dreams of making it to the Olympics. "We continue to imagine what his life would be like now," his mother continued. "He was deprived of his dreams and his life because of a driver's selfish choice to drive distracted."

For the rest of April, law enforcement across the state are stepping up enforcement of the state's hands-free law, which went into effect in 2019. The law allows drivers to interact with phones and electronic devices through voice activation or with a single touch, but bans them from holding them in their hand while at the wheel.

Last year, deaths (22) and serious injuries (126) attributed to distracted driving dropped to their lowest levels since the law took effect. Still, distracted driving was a contributing factor in more than 32,000 crashes — one in every 11 crashes on Minnesota roads — between 2018 and 2022, the Department of Public Safety said.

Hanson challenged all drivers to put their phones away for the entire month of April.

"Thirty days is all it takes" to change a behavior, Hanson said at the news conference. "You will find your driving task will be much easier. It will be less stressful, and you will be a much safer driver."

In the years following their son's death, the LaVallees have been active in raising awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. They were among many families who successfully pushed for the state's hands-free law.

The couple started Just Drive Day in 2015, with the mission to end distracted driving and create a stigma around it. This year's event will include a walk and run from 9 a.m. to noon April 29 at Monticello Middle School.

"There is only one task we do every day that has the potential to kill somebody, and that is driving," Greg LaVallee said. Driving while distracted "is the most selfish choice."