Student texts, drives…and wrecks

Posted on November 14, 2016 by Amelia Buchholz in Features // 2 Comments

8:35- “We can visit Westminster on the 12th ” 8:36- Outgoing Call

60 seconds was all it took for the car to slam into a telephone pole and flip upside down. 60 seconds was all it took to change the life of Kaylee Brosius, age 17, forever.

The morning of July 7, 2016, Brosius was on her way home from eating breakfast with her closest friends. She had driven the same road almost every day for over a year and was an excellent driver. With confidence in her driving, Brosius didn’t think twice about looking down at her cell phone to read a text from her mother (8:35). She looked up from the phone and the next thing she knew she was upside down in her vehicle, head out the drivers’ window and her feet on the ground.( 8:36)

Brosius did what first came to mind and called her mother in a panic. Not being able to understand her daughter, Khris Brosius rushed to the scene of the crash. Kaylee Brosius was physically OK, but the state of mind she was left in was far from it.

Every year, Southmoreland Student Council hands out red ribbons and rubber bracelets to remind students to avoid destructive decisions. Proving ineffective, students came up with a whole new approach for 2016. From the help of teachers Christopher Pollard and Amy Brown, student council members Elise Proch, Kaylee Brosius, Kaitlyn Walch and Charles Echard and members of the senior class, the idea of a keychain with a message was created.

“There are way too many people (adults and students) who think that nothing will come from texting and driving,” Kaylee Brosius said. “But the fact is that anything (the worst case scenario) could happen to anyone.”

The idea behind the keychain was that students getting ready to get into a vehicle, whether driving it or being a passenger, would be reminded to avoid making a destructive decision. Each student of Southmoreland High School was given a Scottie dog keychain with the words “Help Save Lives, Don’t Text and Drive.” On the back is a QR code that students can scan, directly linking them to the Pennsylvania State laws against texting and driving.

In 2011, at least 23 percent of auto collisions involved cell phones.

“The keychains are a great reminder of the consequences that go along with texting and driving which is one of the top causes for car accidents,” Proch said. “I hope that students will look at their keys before pulling out and be reminded not to make destructive decisions while on the road.”

“It does not matter how good of a driver you are or how good of a driver you think you are,” Kaylee Brosius said. “Accidents can happen to anyone. I have affected so many people with my accident, and I was fine. I cannot even imagine how I would have affected people if I wouldn’t have made it.”