Beyond the Byline: Please obey Paul Miller’s Law

WILKES-BARRE — The fist time I met Eileen Miller, she stood before hundreds of students at the Greater Nanticoke High School and told the story of how her life was forever changed on July 5, 2010, when her son, Paul Jr., was killed in a crash caused by a distracted driver.

It was a strong, emotional message — a message Mrs. Miller has delivered to thousands of students across Pennsylvania and the U.S.

As Miller bravely spoke to the students, she said that her son did everything right on July 5, 2010 — but the driver of the tractor-trailer traveling in the opposite direction did everything wrong.

Miller’s son, Paul, was driving his vehicle on Route 33 in Hamilton Township, when a southbound tractor-trailer crossed the center grass divider and traveled head-on into his car.

At the time of the crash, the tractor trailer was being operated by a distracted driver.

Paul died from the injuries he suffered as a result of the crash — he was 21.

“On July 5, 2010, in one second, our lives were tragically changed forever because of something so preventable,” Miller told the students. “Our handsome beautiful son Paul Miller Jr. lost his life to a distracted driver. Life is full of choices — what will your choice be?”

And if Miller’s emotional presentation and warnings weren’t enough to convince the students — who were preparing for their upcoming prom — to not text and drive, the graphic pictures she showed had to have an impact.

Miller showed pictures of the accident scene — her son’s crumpled car and she told the students that when she went to the morgue to identify her son’s body, she couldn’t.

This week, on the day that Gov. Josh Shapiro signed “Paul Miller’s Law,” Eileen Miller recounted the horrific story when she was told her son was killed.

Miller talked about going to the morgue to identify her son’s lifeless body.

“I whispered in the ear of my son at the morgue — who I couldn’t even identify, I didn’t even know that it was him, he was that bad — but I whispered in his ear that when I found out what had caused that crash, I would fight for change,” Miller said this week.

“We later found out that it was distracted driving. I held that honor to him — and today is Paul Miller’s law.”

Gov. Shapiro signed Senate Bill 37 — known as Paul Miller’s Law — into law, prohibiting the use of hand-held devices while driving. This bipartisan legislation makes Pennsylvania the 29th state in the nation to ban distracted driving.

Mrs. Miller accomplished her goal of honoring her son by getting the law enacted. But the battle to convince students and adults to refrain from driving distracted continues.

“These tragedies are preventable,” Miller said. “They are crashes, not accidents.”

So my friend Eileen Miller will continue to advocate. She will display those graphic pictures and she will talk about the statistics that are frightening and her words will be sobering.

Miller’s message must be heard and received and followed — don’t drive distracted.

Paul Miller’s Law allows law enforcement to issue a ticket when a driver uses a cell phone while driving. Drivers can still use their phones to alert emergency responders and to make phone calls, use a GPS, and listen to music, if they are using hands-free technology.

“I have met too many people with injuries they’ll live with for the rest of their lives because they were hit by a distracted driver — and too many families that have an empty seat at the dinner table because of distracted driving,” said Gov. Shapiro at this week’s ceremony. “This commonsense, bipartisan legislation — passed and signed into law in honor of Paul Miller’s legacy — empowers our state and local police to stop distracted driving and make our roads and communities safer.”

• In 2023, distracted driving was the leading cause of car crashes in Pennsylvania with traffic deaths rising by 2.25%, compared to 2022, according to PennDOT’s annual crash information report.

• The report showed 1,209 deaths in motor vehicle crashes, up from 1,179 in the prior year.

• There were more than 11,262 distracted driving crashes in 2023, compared to 8,330 alcohol-related crashes.

“In 2023, there were more than 11,000 crashes in Pennsylvania that involved a distracted driver,” said PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll. “Driving requires 100% of your attention 100% of the time, and this bill is an important step forward in discouraging distracted driving and keeping everyone safe on the road.”

The point is, given all these alarming statistics and after hearing Mrs. Miller’s impassioned plea to the students, why would anyone drive distracted?

Paul Miller Jr. was a good kid by all accounts. He had just graduated college. He went to a party and acted responsibly — he decided to stay overnight at the host’s residence and drive home the next morning. Like his mom said, Paul did everything right.

But the driver of that truck didn’t. He felt he needed his cell phone. And in a second, Paul Miller Jr. was dead, 12 passengers in a van behind him were injured and the driver went to jail.

Nobody wants to ever have to go through what Eileen Miller and her husband, Paul Sr., and family and friends have gone through and continue to deal with every day.

Now there’s a law — Paul Miller’s Law.

Please obey it.