A woman who was nearly killed in a crash caused by a distracted driver is touring schools in Birdville ISD this week to share her story with kids. Jacy Good and her husband, Steve Johnson, spoke with seniors at Haltom High School Wednesday.
"For me, it's about making it real," Good says. "We all know what we should do, but we don't necessarily do it. I, maybe, didn't either when I was in high school."
Good had just graduated college in Pennsylvania in 2008. She was in the car with her parents when police say a truck swerved and hit their car while trying to avoid another car that had run a red light.
Police say the driver of the other car was talking on his cell phone at the time.
The crash killed Good's parents. She spent four months in the hospital with broken bones and a traumatic brain injury, saying she does not remember anything for two months after the crash.
Her husband says doctors gave her a 10% chance of living through the first night.
"This was completely preventable," Good says. "That's why I think if we've got the power to change something that can cause so much pain, we've all got an obligation to each other."
Good had to miss her parents' funerals and took her first steps three months after the crash. She still has limited mobility on her left side as a result of her TBI.
"But at the same time, I need to remember how lucky I am to be the one in these shoes," she says. "I'm still here. I am so fortunate I survived."
"Maybe we can get to their heart strings a little bit," Johnson, Good's husband, says. "If they can feel, they'll want to make the change before it happens to them."
Johnson and Good say they hope to convince students to avoid looking at their phones while driving. They showed slides with MRI images showing 40% less brain activity related to watching the road when listening to someone else talk and another picture showing a smaller field of vision when talking on a phone.
They also played a video showing kids who say they would check texts and use apps like Snapchat while driving.
"You can't just, like, let it sit there without knowing what they said," one student said.
The young people shown in the video were then introduced to Good who told them about her crash and how she had to relearn how to walk, talk and perform simple activities again.
"I'm not going to look at my phone," a student in the video said after meeting her.
"People's lives are at risk over something so stupid," another said.
"In a room like this, if they got the message, maybe it starts a positive ripple," Good says. "They'll go and share with their friends and parents, and more people will be doing the right thing."
Good and Johnson are stopping at all three high schools in Birdville ISD this week as part of a partnership with the Texas Department of Transportation and NTE Mobility Partners, the company that has built TEXpress lanes on highways in the area.
TxDOT says distracted driving caused one in six crashes across the state last year. TxDOT says 487 people died; 2,284 were seriously injured.
"All distractions – whether texting, eating, grooming, or having a conversation – can be dangerous. Every driver and every passenger, regardless of age, can be impacted by distracted driving," TxDOT says.
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