Mom who lost son glad that Inslee will sign new distracted driving bill into law Tuesday

SEATTLE -- Gov. Jay Inslee will sign a revised distracted driving bill into law Tuesday, essentially making it illegal to use your phone while behind the wheel.

It's been an emotional and painful journey for one local family who recently lost their son to a distracted driving accident.

There's not a day that goes by that Tina Meyer doesn't think of her son, Cody.

"I wish Cody was there with me, not just watching over me," Tina said Monday.

Tina's whole world crumbled on December 15, 2015. Cody was working as a flagger in a construction zone off of Cedar Grove Road in Issaquah when a distracted driver struck her son.

"That's the first words out of his (the driver's) mouth ... 'I wasn't texting.' But he was looking at his phone," Tina said of the driver.

On May 24, 2016, Cody died of his injuries with his family by his side. He was 23 years old.

"Something happened to my son and many others that was wrong, that shouldn't have happened," she said.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, distracted driving kills 3,000 people every year.

In Washington state, fatalities have gone up every year.

Transportation officials say you're just as likely to be killed by a distracted driver as you would be by a driver under the influence.

And because of her son Cody, Tina will do whatever she can to advocate for change, saying no text or phone call is worth someone's life.

"Helping to get change in place had to be done," she said.