For the first time since their son was killed by a distracted driver in 2006, Chuck and Gloria Wilhelm sent out a Christmas letter this year.

"We think about Matt every day ... especially during the holidays. He lives on in our hearts and even his young nephews talk about him. Matt has touched many lives in a special way. Thank you to our wonderful family and friends for your kindness and loving support the past few years," it reads in part.

The former Champaign couple has been busy since that awful September day when they learned that a teenage girl was downloading ring tones onto her cellphone when she veered off the road and struck their 25-year-old son from behind as he was bicycling on Illinois 130 in Urbana.

Matt Wilhelm, a mechanical engineer, brother, son and grandson, died six days later from his injuries.

Since then, the Wilhelms have moved to Bourbonnais, Chuck Wilhelm has a new job, and he and his wife have added two daughters-in-law and four grandsons to their family. That means a lot of baby-sitting for Gloria, a teacher who continues teaching as a substitute.

They have also become vocal advocates for legislation to enhance the penalties for distracted driving, including a 2009 appearance on the Oprah Winfrey show.

When the National Transportation Safety Board declared in December that there should be a total ban on texting, emailing or chatting while driving, except in emergencies, the Wilhelms were cheering.

"I thought it was a great idea. So many thousands of people are getting killed by arrogant individuals who seem to think they can do it all but can't multitask as well as they think they can," Gloria Wilhelm said.

Smart phones have only exacerbated the distracted driving problem, the Wilhelms maintain, because they have so many more options that make it even easier to drive while talking.

"There are going to be a lot of people fighting this," said Chuck Wilhelm of the proposed ban.

The Wilhelms were among presenters at a national distracted-driving summit in Addison back in April that featured Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, researchers, and educators like drivers' training teachers.

Gloria Wilhelm said LaHood, who favors a total ban on cellphone use by drivers, was "absolutely and totally passionate about this issue. We were impressed with him and his sincerity."

Chuck Wilhelm said it's going to take more deaths caused by drivers distracted by technology before states are willing to enact bans on cellphones or laws with meaningful penalties.

"I think it will (change) because of what we're seeing," said Chuck Wilhelm, adding his family and friends were on the "front end with hardly any statistics" when they started their lobbying immediately after their son's 2006 death.

"Now you see more and more that underreporting is starting to be fixed. They're starting to collect more of the information on what is causing these accidents," he said.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration recently announced it has refined the way it collects crash data to hone in on the causes, according to its website.

"While NHTSA ... previously recorded a broad range of potential distractions, such as careless driving and cellphone present in the vehicle, the new measure focuses on distractions that are most likely to affect crash involvement, such as distraction by dialing a cellular phone or texting and distraction by an outside person/event. New data released ... by NHTSA using its refined methodology show an estimated 3,092 fatalities in distraction-affected crashes in 2010," the website said.

Chuck Wilhelm said knowing that technology is causing deaths should make believers of lawmakers.

"It may not fix it 100 percent. But if not 35 states, then maybe 50 states will have some laws," he said.

According to the Governors Highway Safety Association, 35 states, including Illinois, Guam and the District of Columbia, have texting bans. Illinois further bans the use of cellphones totally in school or highway construction zones.

Nine states, the District of Columbia, and the Virgin Islands have a ban on hand-held cellphones.

Gloria Wilhelm acknowledged that the NTSB recommendation is not binding on any states, but it "really does carry a lot of weight."

"It is very likely to influence state legislatures, insurances companies and corporations," she said, adding many corporations have banned use of cellphones in vehicles by employees because of lawsuits.

Gloria Wilhelm said it's going to take time to ban cellphone usage, just as it took time to implement laws to force the use of seat belts and to enhance penalties for drunken driving.

"(Distracted driving) has been referred to as the new drunk driving because a lot of people think they can multitask just like people long ago thought they could drink and drive. Just as there is a stigma attached to drunk driving, we're assuming and hoping there will be a stigma attached to this," she said.

For more information on this issue, visit the following websites:

— National Transportation Safety Board at NTSB.gov;

— HandsFreeInfo.com; and

— Governors Highway Safety Association at ghsa.org.

53 ticketed in Champaign County for texting while driving since ban began

URBANA — Statistics compiled for Champaign County State's Attorney Julia Rietz show that police have written 53 tickets for texting while driving since a ban on that went into effect in January 2010.

The law has made the offense a petty traffic offense, punishable by a fine only. In both years, Illinois State troopers handed out the majority of the tickets issued in all of Champaign County.

In 2010, there were 18 tickets issued to 11 men and seven women, ranging in age from 16 to 50.

In 2011 through Dec. 9, there had been 35 tickets issued to 19 men and 16 women, ranging in age from 16 to 58.

Rietz said most of the tickets are resolved by the recipients paying $75 fines, so prosecutors don't know a lot about the details of the cases.

In one of the more dramatic incidents of distracted driving involving a cellphone during 2011, a 29-year-old woman who was trying to retrieve her voice mail hit the rear of one stopped Champaign police car in the 500 block of East University Avenue, knocking it into the rear end of another stopped squad car in front of it. The driver was not hurt, and the officers were treated for only minor injuries.

The woman was sentenced to six months of conditional discharge, fined $200 and ordered to make $1,000 restitution for the damage to the car.

Rietz, who has been criticized for not being tough enough on the woman who hit and killed bicyclist Matt Wilhelm in 2006, said the Illinois Legislature has chosen to make distracted driving a petty offense.

"The most difficult part of my job over the past eight years has been trying to explain to family members and the public the limits of the law when it comes to fatalities due to distracted driving," she said. "But at the same time I understand the Legislature's reluctance to criminalize negligent behavior and that they do not consider distracted driving to rise to the level of willful and wanton disregard for the safety of others.

"The law recognizes that accidents happen even if the result of the accident is devastating."