SALT LAKE CITY — A new book is sharing stories of loss and heartache in the hope that it prevents other teenagers from dying on Utah roads.
The Teen Memoriam book was featured Tuesday at Salt Lake City’s Marmalade Branch Library in what’s become an annual event, one in which family members wish they didn’t have to attend because those who take part speak from the heart about losing a teenage loved one in a fatal vehicle crash.
Last year, 33 teenagers died on Utah roads; but since 2007, that number jumps to 438 teens between 13 and 19 years old who died in fatal crashes.
Officials with Zero Fatalities started the Teen Memoriam book to share stories of the young lives that were lost.
“This is a book of remembrance, it’s also a book of hope," said David Litvak with the Utah Department of Health and Human Services.
The book is also used to remind parents about the importance of preparing young drivers before they hit the road.
Isaac Call lost his younger sister, Emma, and her best friend in a fiery crash last year near Heber City.
“There are times when I struggle talking about it, but the life that Emma lived it makes it a lot easier for me to talk about it," he said. “Everybody has a part and everybody can make that mistake, and it just takes one time where you change the lives of several, several people and several families.
"And so I think it’s a message not just teen drivers and not just parents but for every driver that’s out there on the roads today.”
Teen Memoriam was created to empower families and communities to encourage change and to save lives.
“More than 7,000 online teen memoriam homework assignments have been completed in driver education classes around the state, involving more than 70 high schools,” said Litvak.
In 2021, Sheraden Caldwell's twin sister was killed in a fatal accident, a tragic loss she hopes no one else has to go through.
“Let’s make it so there’s no need to make any more Teen Memoriam books in Utah,” she said.
