A mourning father’s plea- put down the phone

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While increased policing has shone a light on distracted driving, one Father in Flamborough is urging pedestrians to keep their eyes off their phones or else they could meet the same deadly consequences his son did over the weekend. Tom Walli wants to make sure no parent has to ever experience his pain.

Tom’s 23-year old son Brandon was struck and killed by a truck Saturday night as he crossed Highway 6 by Carlisle. Tom says his son knew the dangers of highway traffic, his home was just metres away from the crash site and he had been working at the nearby Tim Horton’s since the spring. Brandon’s dad says his death could be pinned on the fact that he was distracted by his phone while crossing the street

“Brandon was always on that phone always social always in contact with everybody and I don’t think there was a moment that he wasn’t talking to somebody.”

While Hamilton didn’t have the numbers, a study by the city of Toronto says that between 2008-2012, over 10 000 pedestrians were injured or killed after being hit by a car. About 1 300 were classified as distracted. Also, distracted pedestrians were 40% more likely to be seriously injured or killed than those who had their heads up, which is what Tom Walli hopes more people do.