A Miami-Dade County jury awarded $8.8 million to the family of a mother killed in a collision with a teenage driver - believed to be texting - in 2008, according to lawyers involved with the case.

Myriam del Socorro Lopez was a passenger in a car driven by her husband, travelling eastbound on Bird Road, when Luis Cruz-Govin, 17 at the time, was speeding and weaving in and out of traffic in his father’s Subaru. According to the complaint filed by lawyers, Cruz-Govin slammed into Lopez’s vehicle. Lopez died on the scene, and her husband Wilson Torres suffered internal injuries - including substantial abdominal bleeding, and a large cut from his chest to his stomach from the impact.

The couple had two young children, who were not in the car at the time.

“This case should bring an awareness to Florida of the problems that texting and driving have done, and will continue to do,” said Alan Goldfarb, Torres’ lawyer. “It has to stop. It’s a tragic situation that kills.”

Goldfarb said police at the scene charged Cruz-Govin with speeding and reckless driving, but not vehicular homicide. He was given a $2,000 fine, and his license was suspended for six months. In addition, he had to complete a cour- ordered advanced driving course.

According to evidence presented in the case, Cruz-Govin was driving between 61 and 69 miles per hour in a 40 mph zone. Records showed an outgoing text at 8:19 p.m. Paramedics were notified at 8:21.

David Strayer, a professor of psychology at the University of Utah, testified at the trial on the effects of texting and driving. Dr. Strayer, a renowned texting and driving expert, published a study called Driven To Distraction, in addition to various other studies on the subject.

According to the complaint, there was marijuana and cocaine in the Subaru, and a partially consumed bottle of Delsym cough syrup.

The National Transportation Safety Board recently recommended that the Federal Government ban the use of all cell phone and texting devices during driving.

“The (defendant) was clearly a chronic texter,” Goldfarb said, citing the 127 texts Cruz-Govin sent on the day of the accident.

According to Goldfarb, drivers are eight times more likely to get involved in an accident while texting than when not.