It started with Lucinda Blais' 17-year-old son beaming about a road trip he and his friend would be taking before entering his senior year of high school. It ended with his mother in tears after learning her son had died in a car accident.

In 2010, Blais wasn't the only one to receive the devastating news. More Utah teens die in car accidents than from any other cause, and last year 25 teens died on the road.

On Thursday afternoon a few of their families shared their stories at the Utah Department of Health, encouraging others to be more cautious. The event was part of the Utah Highway Patrol's Zero Fatalities campaign.

Blais recalled that her son, Tyler Blais, of Kearns, and his friend, Darrin Elwood, of Arizona, planned what they called "a road trip to end all road trips." The itinerary went from Salt Lake City to Las Vegas and then to Prescott, Ariz., winding back through rural roads and the Grand Canyon before a return home.

Lucinda Blais got a call late on the night of July 2 from her son saying they were still out on an adventure in Arizona. She urged him to come home, and he tried to calm his mother in his way by saying, "I just called to say I love you."

The next voice she heard on the phone hours later was that of a police officer telling her the road trip had ended an hour from home. Police believe Elwood — the driver — dozed off and the car went off the road and struck a guardrail, killing both teens.

Lucinda, who was in a Las Vegas casino on a family trip at the time of the call, remembers all the sounds around her fading out as she repeatedly yelled "no."

She remembers her son as someone who cared about others and always wanted to be an organ donor. The two boys even picked up a 60-year-old hitchhiker — who was in the car during the accident but survived.

Coping with the loss of her son is something few will understand, she said through tears.

"I have had it hit me sometimes so hard that it puts me to my knees," Blais said.

She hopes teens and parents alike are more educated about drowsy driving.

"Instead of being so worried about him just getting home, I would have insisted that he stayed somewhere to sleep," Blais said. "I just didn't take all the factors into consideration, and I think it is a common mistake people make."

Several other family members at the event recalled what it was like learning of their teen's death.

"It was quiet; no ambulance, just a tow truck," said Johnny Reyes, whose daughter and four others died last year in Ogden Canyon. He wanted to see his daughter, but all he saw was "mangled metal."

This is the fourth year the Department of Health has created a book chronicling the stories of teenagers killed in automobile fatalities. Jenny Johnson, with the department's Violence and Injury Program, said the book is meant to serve as a warning to others.

"Last year, there were three separate crashes in which nine young people died. More than one-quarter of the teens killed died in Weber County alone," Johnson said.

cimaron@sltrib.com Twitter: @CimCity —

Teens at risk

Teens ages 13-19 are three times more likely to speed, drive distracted or drowsy and fail to yield than other drivers involved in fatal accidents, according to the Utah Department of Health. In 2010 only 35 percent of those killed were wearing a seat belt. —

Don't Drive Stupid

View memorials of teens killed from previous years and tips on preventing teen car accidents at www.dontdrivestupid.com and ut.zerofatalitites.com.