A somber reflection on past mistakes and the ongoing battle against distracted driving unfolds from the story of Megan Severson, who caused a fatal accident five years ago because of a glance gone too long at her GPS. On Oct. 17, 2019, Severson was caught up in a moment's distraction that led to a chain-reaction crash on Highway 52 in St. Paul – a decision that ended Anthony Kawino's life and changed hers forever.
As reported by Minnesota Department of Public Safety's article, Severson was driving at 70 mph in a 55 zone when she realized too late that the cars in front of her had stopped. Sgt. Daniel Dixon, the crash reconstructionist, highlighted the distance a car travels while a driver's attention is diverted for mere seconds. Dixon said, "At that speed, if you're looking at your GPS for five seconds to try to figure out where you would need to go next, you just traveled almost two football fields of distance."
The aftermath of the crash was tragic, with Severson charged with criminal vehicular homicide and reflecting on her actions. "When he first said people normally get prison time, I went off the rails in my mind," Severson told Minnesota Department of Public Safety's article. In a bid to transform personal tragedy into a cautionary tale, Severson shared her experience in hopes of deterring others from distracted driving. "Don’t do it, because there are heavy consequences and it’s more than prison, jail or probation. It’s your whole life," Severson imparted in the interview.
As traffic fatalities associated with distractions continue to be a problem in Minnesota with 27 recorded in 2024 so far, Severson's reflections serve as a grim reminder. Those personal devices tempting drivers away from the attention roads demand play a part in one in 11 crashes between 2019 and 2023 in the state. "It seems like as the cars get better, safer and smarter that drivers get more relaxed and less attentive to what’s going on out there," Dixon observed, expressing frustration at the preventable nature of such deaths.
Megan Severson, now shouldering the weight of a life cut short, endeavors to honor the memory of that life through hers. "I'm not living for just myself. I'm living for two. The life that I took. It makes me want to push to be the best I can be," Severson pledged, according to an interview with the Minnesota Department of Public Safety.
For more information and resources on distracted driving and its consequences, readers are encouraged to visit the Office of Traffic Safety’s Distracted Driving webpage. The Kawino family declined to comment for the Minnesota Department of Public Safety article.
