A Deadly Wandering

In September 2009, Reggie travels to Washington, DC, for the inaugural Distracted Driving Summit, organized by Ray LaHood, the Secretary of Transportation. Reggie’s story makes a big impact on LaHood. At the end of the summit, President Obama signs an order forbidding federal employees from texting and driving during work hours.

Reggie finishes his essay on Les Misérables, in which he writes about redemption, the power of everyone to change, and resisting “seeking profit or praise from redemptive efforts” (325).

Reggie appears on an Oprah segment about distracted driving, and though his sentence is over, he accepts many more appearance invitations, each time displaying what people characterize as “inescapable sincerity” (326).

In June, Reggie speaks to a roomful of rookies entering the NBA. As he recounts the accident, he cries, and they applaud when his talk ends. One former player says, “as his story comes out, you realize that, every time, he is reliving it” (326).

Reggie speaks to an auditorium filled with high school students. He tells them the whole story, from the morning of the accident up to his sentencing hearing and his first night in jail. He makes it clear that he decided to text and drive, and that he wishes he could take it back.