Twins killed by distracted driver

LANCASTER, OH (WDTN) -
Just one second. That's all it takes to ruin your life or someone else's if you text or use a cell phone while driving. Four out of five drivers admit they've done one or both... even though they know the dangers. I traveled to Lancaster to talk with parents who live with the devastating consequences daily. Michelle Kingsfield is on your side with how to avoid their fate.

Matt Seager pulled up to an accident that he didn't know would change his, and his family's lives forever.
"I look over and see a car. Never registering that it's our car. Then somebody said something about there were four kids in the car. I thought I was gonna lose it. I kept saying those are my babies. Those are my babies in the car." screamed Seager. His wife Amy:, "The driver of the pick-up truck smashed into them from behind at 60 mph. He never stopped, never hit the brakes. They never regained consciousness." Four days later, 17-year old twins Kimberly and Kathy Seagar of Lancaster died. "Kathy had a lot of injuries. Her spleen, liver, broken bones all over her. Both her legs were broken. She had facial fractures. In fact I didn't recognize her." said her Mother Amy. An investigation revealed the 23-year old driver who hit the girls was distracted. He was using his cell phone.

The most recent numbers from 2009 show more than 5,000 people were killed in the United States by distracted drivers. 995 of those crashes involved people using a cell phone. That's Nearly one in every five deadly crashes. People don't understand. My eyes are on the road, I can talk on the phone and drive at the same time. They're not seeing. They're eyes are looking ahead, but their brain is not perceiving what they're looking towards." says Amy.

Right now 34 states and the District of Columbia have laws banning texting while driving. Ohio does not. A fact that angers and saddens Amy and Matt. "There is no phone call, there is no text in the world that is worth anybody's life. Not a single one." Amy and Matt often imagine how life could have been. Had the driver that took away their daughters, not been distracted by his cell phone. "You think of how old the girls would be. Those thoughts go through your head." "It's going to affect us for the rest of our lives. It's never going to go away. It doesn't go away." said the two. The driver who ran into the Seager's car served six months in jail.

Join WDTN as we remind all drivers: Wait 2 text. You can pick up a free thumb band at White Allen chevrolet or Sinclair Community College as a reminder to drive now, text later.