Families of teens killed on Utah roads share their grief
Oct 22, 2024, 9:00 PM
DeShawna Joe, mother of SoRaya Manakaja, and Brian Berry, father of Ben Berry, hug after she spoke and he stepped up to speak as they attend a press event by the Utah Department of Public Safety and Utah Department of Health and Human Services on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, at the Marmalade branch of the Salt Lake City Public Library, where a pair of families shared stories of losing a teenage child in a motor vehicle crash in 2023. (Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
(Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY— The 16th annual Teen Memoriam honors teens who have lost their lives on Utah roads.
Their families are sharing much more behind the numbers.
National Teen Driver Safety Week is Oct. 20-26. The focus is on drivers and what we can all do to reduce the number to zero fatalities.
“Anytime he could hang out with friends, he would just love to be with people,” said Brian Berry.
A people-person with a creative eye is how Brian Perry describes his son, Ben.
Related: Lauren McCluskey family marks six years since her death on the U of U campus
“Ben loved to play video games but that was a way to play with his friends,” Brian Perry said. “He was all about living life. Making sure that the moments he got were memorable.”
For his 18th birthday, Ben wanted a motorcycle.
“When he decided to get the bike, he spent probably a year researching helmets, backpacks with the spine guards in them, boots, gloves. All the different safety gear he would need,” Brian Perry said.
In June 2023, Ben went for a ride on his motorcycle. As he was turning a corner to come back home, a car, on the shoulder, pulled back into traffic, clipping — then ejecting — him from his bike back into oncoming traffic.
Ben is one of 38 teens who lost their lives on Utah roads in 2023.
Read the full story from KSLTV here.
