By Nick Woltman

St. Paul Pioneer Press

ST. PAUL — Matthew Riggs was on his second deployment to Afghanistan with the U.S. Army in August 2013 when he received word that his younger brother David had been in a traffic accident.

When he made it home to Minnesota two days later, Matthew Riggs was devastated to learn his brother would not survive his injuries.

“That was the hardest thing I’ve ever been through in my entire life,” Riggs said Thursday, fighting back tears. “I saw him lying in the hospital bed, and I knew that was the last time I was going to see him.”

His pain was compounded by the knowledge that the driver of the car that hit David, who was riding a scooter near the family’s Oakdale home, had been texting.

With Minnesota’s enhanced distracted-driving law set to take effect Saturday — just a couple of weeks shy of the anniversary of his brother’s death — Riggs spoke out Thursday about the dangers of texting and driving.

“These are preventable crashes,” he said. “These things don’t have to happen.”

The enhanced law carries a stiffer penalty for repeat offenders. The fine will stay at $50 for a first offense, but will rise to $275 for subsequent violations.

DFL Rep. Frank Hornstein, who sponsored the new law, said the total cost of such a ticket can easily balloon to $345 with court costs.

Distracted driving contributed to 61 deaths and more than 7,000 injuries on Minnesota roads in 2014, according to statistics provided by the state’s Department of Public Safety.

Minnesota law enforcement officers issued 3,200 citations for distracted driving that year.

While using your cellphone’s GPS navigation system is legal, said Lt. Kevin Skalsky with the Minnesota State Patrol, sending or reading text messages or emails and accessing the Internet are prohibited.

—Distributed by Tribune Content Agency.