Less than a week after 17-year-old Camryn Callaway lost her life in a wreck on I-65 S just past the Pelham “tank farm” exit 242, Pelham Police have confirmed to CBS 42 what caused the crash: texting while driving.
Callaway, a senior at Thompson High School, was killed when her vehicle ran into the back of an 18 wheeler last Thursday night. Her family and friends are heartbroken, but are speaking out to CBS 42 in the hopes that Camryn’s tragic death will serve as a warning to others.
That warning? Nothing happening on your phone is worth your life. Her family hopes all drivers will take their message to heart–it’s a message we all need to hear.
Michelle Lunsford, Camryn’s mom, said Camryn was the one to never text and drive. It just took one time for her to do it, and lose her life to it.
Now, she wants everyone to see her daughter’s mustang that is unrecognizable.
“I think a visual needs to be seen. I know for me, I’m a visual person and to see my child in a casket who’s no longer with us, that’s visual to me and my family,” said Michelle Lunsford, Camryn’s mom.
Michelle said Camryn was 3 months away from graduating high school. She described her as someone everyone got along with, who brightened up everyone day, even on a bad day.
But now, she said she has to find a new way to honor and love her daughter.
“Camryn was my heart. She was the reason I lived and now I just have a new focus on life. Shes not here anymore. I just want to honor her,” said Lunsford.
Watch Lunsford’s full interview with CBS 42 below:
Consider enabling Do Not Disturb While Driving on your phone
See below for step-by-step instructions on both iPhone and Android
Your iPhone must be updated to iOS 11 to have this feature. Instructions for a similar feature on Android are featured below the iPhone instructions.
1. Open Settings on your iPhone.
2. Tap the Do Not Disturb section.
3. Scroll down to “Do Not Disturb While Driving.”
4. Change the setting from “Manual” to either “Automatically” or “When Connected to Car Bluetooth” if you have this feature in your vehicle.
5. Choose if you would like an Auto-Reply to be send to No One, Recents, Contacts, or Favorites.
6. Please drive safely.
Visit this link to learn more about turning on Do Not Disturb While Driving on your iPhone, as the automatic setting will turn on if you are a passenger in a moving vehicle. MacRumors has more information about how to turn it off and other frequently asked questions about this feature.
As for Android phones, Google has activated their own first-party do not disturb while driving app in the Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL phones. For those that do not have those phones, the best way to activate do not disturb while driving is by downloading an app like Drive Safe from the Play Store.
After downloading the app, all you have to do is open it and press the big button in the middle to activate the program, which will automatically send replies to incoming calls and texts.
In order to turn off the app, all you have to do is press the button once again.
