SALT LAKE CITY — As a part of National Teen Driver Safety Week, state officials with the departments of Transportation, Public Safety, and Health and Human Resources invited families to recount how they lost teenage children in motor vehicle crashes.
“It shouldn’t be this way, us burying our own child. A mother, a parent, should never bury their child,” said DeShawna Joe of Tremonton.
She and Brian Berry of West Haven are part of a club no parent wants to join. They were both at the Marmalade Branch Public Library on Tuesday to share their stories to promote the statewide initiative for teens dubbed "Zero Fatalities."
They both lost teenagers on Utah roads who were involved in vehicle crashes last year.
“I actually heard the sirens go by my house,” said Berry.
Berry’s 18-year-old son Ben was killed instantly while riding his motorcycle near his home.
Berry said a car came out of nowhere — from the shoulder of the road into an active lane of traffic.
“When I pulled up, I could see his bike on the sidewalk," he said. "I could see him in the middle of the road, and they were all working on him. They performed lifesaving tactics for 45 minutes, even though he was killed on impact."
Joe’s story is no less tragic. She lost her 16-year-old daughter SoRaya, who was struck and killed while riding her bicycle in the wee hours of the night.
“A dump truck driver came out of a business and didn’t see her and ran her over. But my daughter wasn’t aware of the driver too, because she was wearing her iPods,” said Joe.
These two tragic cases are among 38 involving teens who were killed on Utah roads in 2023.
Brian Berry wants drivers to not make sudden moves on the road.
Safety officials said parental involvement can make a huge difference in teen driving, reducing speeding by 30% and doubling the use of seat belts.
Though difficult to share the stories of their children, Joe and Berry stepped up to help get through to driversd — teens or otherwise — to be alert and take nothing for granted when on the road.
“You just have to put that message out there for everybody. That’s how I can save another life,” said Joe.
Berry added how his late son is playing a role in promoting teen driver safety.
“If there’s even one person that can be saved by hearing his story, that’s the goal. Zero fatalities. That’s what we’re shooting for," he said.
