ST. LOUIS PARK, Minn. — It's the time of the year for John Dudley to dig up old memories.
Every year, he builds a garden in front of his Saint Louis Park home. In the center, there's a blooming crabapple tree.
"We try to get red flowers," said Dudley. "Because it's Andrew's favorite color."
In the Spring of 2012, his son was biking home from a church youth group. A driver taking a call on her phone call hit and killed him.
"It was the worst call I've ever gotten," said Dudley. "It's the one call that no parent wants to get."
Dudley described Andrew as a rebellious teen. He learned how kind-hearted Andrew was at a church gathering the day after he died.
"I just want to bring as much attention to distracted driving as I can," said Dudley. "I wish he was still here arguing with me, but I'll do what I can to make things safer for everybody."
In recent years, distracted driving was the cause of 1 in 11 crashes on Minnesota roadways.
This is why the state launched a distracted driving campaign and cited more than 3,400 drivers for cell phone violations last month.
John Dudley was one of the advocates who worked to pass the Hands-Free Cell law in 2019.
"Like with the flowers, life is continuous," said Dudley. "Just because Andrew has passed away life goes on."
Because of his dad, Andrew's memory still blooms.
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