Valley mother speaking out about distracted driving after the tragic death of her son

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- A Valley mother is speaking out after her son made a decision that ended his life and changed hers forever.

Twenty-two-year-old Tyler Smedley meant the world to his mother Denise Hoole. "When he was first born he was my joy."

The Clovis mother is still dealing with the loss of her son, who was a father to four-year-old twin boys.

On December 2nd, his drive home from work on a windy road in Washington turned tragic. "Seeing all the car parts scattered everywhere was hardest for me to see, knowing this is where my son's life ended," said Hoole.

Hoole said her son was on his phone in the moments before his death. "All of a sudden, the last video of him. You could see his face going in and out and then you just heard the car crashing. And ever since I heard that I started crying, because that's five seconds of my son's last life "

Distracted driving is a serious problem across the country and here in the Valley. "There were 30 fatalities in the Central Valley due to distracted driving. That's everything from hygiene, doing your hair, putting on makeup, doing other things in the vehicle," said Johnny Fisher, CHP Public Information Officer.

Officer Fisher said those deaths happened in 2014. He said driving requires all of our senses, but we also need to use our common sense to combat this deadly problem. "Put your mobile phone away. Put the lighting road away. Put it in your backpack, your purse, your glove box, somewhere you can't reach it until you get to your destination."

As for Hoole, her son's death has given her a new mission in life to stop distracted driving. "I tell them stop. It can wait. Is it worth your life or someone else's life to end over a text message, a selfie?"

A message she hopes will cause others to think twice the next time they're behind the wheel.