A decorated athlete, National Merit Scholar finalist, and molecular biology major at UC Berkeley, 19-year-old Eric Okerblom was the model of a bright and mature young man.
Fresh from Nicaragua, where he’d been learning Spanish with his girlfriend and local families, Eric took up cycling, with designs on joining the Cal cycling team. He’d only been at it for a few weeks, riding along Telephone Road near Santa Maria, when he was struck and killed by a pickup truck driven by fellow St. Joseph High graduate Katelin Edwards.
“Eric was an incredible young man,” Eric’s father Bob recalled. “He was the type of person you would want your daughter to marry or you would want for a friend. He had a very deep hope and heart. I really never heard Eric trash another person his entire life.”
Unaware of why Edwards didn’t see Eric, the elder Okerblom, a Santa Maria family physician, decided to do something in his son’s honor he never would have thought possible before. He decided on a bicycle trip across the United States.
After the circumstances of Eric’s death were discussed in court, the trip Okerblom had planned evolved from a personal memorial to his son into a mission to raise public awareness of distracted driving. While a conclusive cause never officially surfaced, he believes texting had something to do with his son’s death.
Starting his journey in San Diego on Feb. 27, Okerblom traveled along the southern United States, through Arizona and Texas, hugging the Gulf Coast through the Deep South into Florida. Nearly two months after he began, Okerblom ended his journey in St. Augustine on April 21, dipping his toes in the Atlantic Ocean. He flew back home to Santa Maria on April 23.
“I feel good. I’m actually not fatigued,” Okerblom said days after his arrival. “It’s good to be off the bike. I’m glad I took the trip. It was very helpful to me with my own personal struggle, and I think it was also effective with the advocating I did do.”
During his 3,400-mile trip, Okerblom traveled from 70 to 120 miles per day, for the most part by himself. He stayed in hotels and gave lectures to schoolchildren along the way about the dangers of driving distracted.
In Texas, Okerblom got involved with “Teens in the Driver Seat,” a peer-to-peer group credited with reducing distracted driving in that state each year for the past five years.
Along the route, Okerblom also kept a blog he updated regularly. On it, he recorded his personal thoughts, memories, and observations of sights hard to notice when traveling in an airplane or car.
“When you spend that much time on a bike and you’re mostly by yourself, there’s a lot of time for introspection and evaluating your values,” Okerblom said. “As I pedaled, I saw hundreds upon hundreds of roadside memorials, mostly to young people who had been killed on the highways.”
Wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase, “Please Drive Cell Free,” along with photographs Eric had taken, Okerblom said he was blown away by the encouragement he received from strangers along the way. Some hotel owners even let him stay free to support the effort.
“People have been very helpful to me through this difficult time,” he said. “Losing a kid is just an ordeal that’s beyond words. Unfortunately, many families go through it.
“The compassion of the human family for one another is a very meaningful thing to me. It’s a beautiful thing, it really is.”
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Distracted driving, according to Okerblom, is the No. 1 killer of teenagers in the United States. Citing studies, Okerblom said a person texting at the wheel takes his or her eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. Driving at 60 miles per hour, the figure equates to a football field-sized area. Distracted drivers also increase their risk of having an accident 23 times more than a driver focused on the road, multiple times more than someone who’s drunk.
Researchers at Virginia Tech University also recently concluded the risk of distracted driving from cell phone use is equal to that of alcohol impairment, markedly more so when texting.
In addition to encouraging avoiding all distractions at the wheel—including eating, putting on makeup, and shaving—Okerblom is also promoting the use of cell phone apps that block incoming calls while driving. One in particular, called OTTER, is available online as a $3.99 download.
“Let’s admit it, it’s addicting,” Okerblom said of cell phone usage while driving. “It’s almost universal. We have to change that social expectation, and we have to change that legal repercussion.”
Though he’s now back to his medical practice, Okerblom’s advocacy work is far from over. He and his wife Eilene plan to continue to speak at local high schools and lobby in Sacramento on behalf of Senate Bill 28, which would raise the fine for using a handheld device while driving from $20 to $50. With added fees, a first-time offense would cost $328.
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Influenced by the Okerbloms’ story, Sen. Sam Blakeslee (R-San Luis Obispo) changed his vote on the legislation, helping it pass through the State Senate on April 25. Though a similar bill stalled in committee last year, Okerblom anticipates the House will approve it this time. Still, he doesn’t believe the legislation is enough.
“It’s definitely a positive step, but we would really like to see it treated just like someone who’s driving willfully impaired from alcohol,” Okerblom said. “This is a problem we’re going to keep working on until society has the appropriate response to it.”
Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas encourages alert driving. Contact him at jthomas@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in May 5-12, 2011.
