Firm announces Distracted Driving Awareness Scholarship winner

Christensen Law has named Gabrielle Ponds of San Antonio, Texas, as the winner of the 2017 Christensen Law Distracted Driving Awareness Scholarship.

Now in its second year, this annual scholarship was developed as part of a commitment by Christensen Law to help students who are in need of financial assistance pay for college, while at the same time raising awareness about the tragic impact of distracted driving.

Distracted driving is defined as any instance where the driver’s full attention is diverted from the full-time duty of a driver, whether that be to read a text (or sending one), or even changing the radio station. It’s that moment when someone’s eyes are not on the road that can lead to a devastating accident.

As a Michigan car accident attorney, David Christensen is all too aware of the impact distracted driving can have, judging from the number of people who have been hurt or even killed as a result.

“Gabrielle’s essay demonstrated a clear understanding of that fact, and she conveyed that understanding in an engaging, winning style. Her entry reminded us all of the great responsibility that driving represents,” said Christensen.
Ponds is a student at the University of Texas in Austin, but she plans on transferring to the College of Liberal Arts to major in Rhetoric and Writing. She said that she was motivated to write this essay because of the problem that distracted driving poses for her generation.

“Even as I walk on the sidewalks of my college campus, I can clearly see a lot of drivers on their phones,” Ponds said.

Ponds said that she will be using this scholarship to help her stay on campus as she pursues her studies. “I want to be able to get involved on my campus to help improve the lives of other students,” she said.

Christensen Law received over 150 essays for the Distracted Driving Scholarship this year — five times as many as they did last year.

“Choosing one winner out of all of those heartfelt entries was not easy. We would like to thank all of the participants for their entries and we wish each student much success in the future,” added Christensen.