Local high school students heard about the dangers of distracted driving from the parents of a California teen who died in a car crash ten years ago at an hour-long talk at GECA on Friday.
Organized by students, Lauren DeRosa and McKenzie Brown as part of a week of activities on reckless and distracted driving, the presentation featured California Highway Patrol and Bonnye Spray, the mom of 19-year-old Amanda Clark, who was texting on her flip-phone when she drove off a freeway embankment and was killed.
“Distracted and reckless driving is a big topic for teens,” said Brown, 18, who had a friend die in a car crash two years ago. “I wanted to bring people who have been truly affected by it so teens can remember to make good choices.”
A typical teen who lived on her cell phone, Spray described her daughter Amanda as a girl who loved life and “did selfies before selfies became a thing.”
“This was before it was illegal to be on your phone [while driving],” said Spray. “We didn’t know the dangers of it and how bad it could be.”
Clark had also received a “second chance” a year before that fatal crash, said Spray.
The teen was talking on her phone when she drove her SUV through a stop sign and was sideswiped by an oncoming car. The car rolled three times. Clark walked away from that crash with minor injuries but she would not be so lucky the next time.
“She had her whole life planned out,” said Spray. The nineteen-year-old had just got a job she wanted and was saving money to go to college when the unthinkable happened.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than eight people are killed and 1,161 injured in crashes involving a distracted driver in the United States.
“Not too many people realize how important it is to stay focused while driving until it actually impacts you and you lose a family member,” said Spray, who decided months after her daughter’s untimely death to share her story to others as a cautionary tale, speaking in front of school and church groups, Elk’s lodges, anywhere she can make the most impact.
“A year or two after I started doing this a student came up to me and said, ‘you rocked my class,’ said Spray. The girl told her the presentation compelled her to apply a no cellphone in the car rule when she is driving. “That meant a lot to me – this really does hit home to kids.”
California Highway Patrol Officer Chris Miceli, who has been making presentations on distracted driving for two years, said he wants to ensure young drivers know that “car crashes are preventable.”
“They most always come down to a poor choice someone makes,” said Miceli. “Distracted driving is not just cell phone use, it’s anything other than driving, talking to people in the car, eating, reading, playing the trumpet – I’ve actually seen that.”
He added: “More people need to know what the risks are and why it is so dangerous for humans, because humans can’t multitask, they task switch.”
