One mother shares her tragic story about a fatal car crash that took away her two teenage daughters. The two sisters, 19-year-old Brianna and 17-year-old Jade, were traveling home from Spring break with their friends. Tragically, the driver of the car they were in lost control while checking for directions on her phone. An 18-wheeler struck the car from behind and killed backseat passengers, Brianna and their friend Brittanie Johnson, upon impact. Jade, in the front passenger seat, died several hours later, and the driver of the vehicle was critically injured but ultimately survived. The mother, Stacey Riddle, joined a campaign with the aim of spreading the “talk, text, crash” message, a problem she fears will continue if not talked about. Ms. Riddle pleads with drivers to be more careful on the roads.
The losses of life in this story were completely preventable; however, we cannot change the past. The only thing that we can control is the future, and the responsibility to make it safe falls on all of us. If you receive a call or text while driving, remember that it can wait. If the matter is seemingly urgent, pull over to a safe place before using your cell phone. Driving is an inherently dangerous task, as there are so many moving parts at play. There is no need to further increase the risk of driving by introducing distracting devices, such as cell phones. Let’s learn from the past, and do everything that we can to keep the roads safe.
If you or someone you know has been injured in an accident with a distracted driver, contact an attorney at Abraham, Watkins, Nichols, Agosto, Aziz & Stogner by calling (713) 222-7211 or toll free at 713-222-7211.