The Dangers Of Distracted Driving

Bella Johnston holds a picture of her best friend, Brooke Richardson, who was killed in a car accident moments after she sent a text while driving near Cobram, Victoria.

Bella Johnston, 19, received a text from Brooke Richardson, 20, on December 4, 2012. Seconds later, Brooke hit a tree while driving near Cobram, Victoria, and was killed.
Brooke was my hairdresser, but she was also my best friend. I'll never forget the day I found out about the crash. I was having coffee with my mum when Dad called. He said, 'Are you sitting down?' and then he told me Brooke had been killed in a car accident. At first, I didn't believe him. But he told me she'd been driving to work that morning, sending a text message, when she ran off the road and hit a tree head-on. Her car was a write-off and she died instantly.

"When he told me, I couldn't breathe and after that I just sat and cried for days.

"In the beginning, I wasn't sure about what had happened, but it sort of clicked a few days later that I was the one Brooke was texting at the time of her death. I had the message on my phone. When I realised, I felt sick. And I felt guilty. She'd tried to call the night before, but I was having a fight with my boyfriend and didn't answer. I know if I'd called her back, if I'd just called her back ...

"Her mum, Vicki, tells me Brooke texted all the time - she was a textaholic. If she wasn't texting me she would have been texting someone else. I just kept thinking everyone would blame me, that it was my fault.

"But Vicki's made it clear to me it wasn't my fault. I remember after it happened she called me and said, 'I know it was you, I'm here for you.' She's incredible. She asked me to speak at Brooke's funeral, which was really hard, but it was a good way for me to move everything forward as well.

"I think about Brooke every single day. We met when I was in a small theatre production and she was doing hair and make-up. We just bonded; we were like, 'We are the same person.' She was bubbly, outgoing, really fun. She just lit up the room.

"Brooke's death has changed everything about my life. I don't take moments for granted anymore. I don't take people for granted. I'll never leave anything hanging again. I don't check my phone when I'm driving. My boyfriend calls me Turtle because I drive so slowly. I'm more than cautious. If I ever see anyone in a car texting, I toot my horn at them."

On July 24, 2004, Marcus Johnstone lost control of his overloaded car outside Warrnambool, Victoria, while deleting a text. Emily Compton, 13, and Stephanie McCoy-Brassington, 14, were killed.
On the night of my 22nd birthday, my friends and I were out driving around like we normally did. All it took was three seconds of me taking my eyes off the road to delete a text message they were teasing me about and our lives changed forever.

"That night there were seven people in my car - three girls and one guy in the back, and two girls in the front passenger seat next to me. When I'd met the girls the night before, they were all introduced to me as being 16 or 17. I'd said to my mate, 'Steph's good-looking, I wouldn't mind hooking up with her.'

"So now he was teasing me about it, with her sitting right beside him. He typed something on his phone and started shoving it in my face. I took the phone off him and, while driving, tried to delete the text message. As I was looking down, I heard one of the girls scream, 'Corner!' By the time I'd dropped the phone and looked up, it was too late. I remember seeing the power pole; it was like slow motion as I watched it come closer and closer until we hit it.

"When I came round, some of the girls were screaming and the car horn was blaring. Three passengers were still trapped in the vehicle, but when I saw Emily and Stephanie, I went weak and couldn't stay around to help. I remember walking up to the road where I stepped into the path of a 4WD. Someone pulled me back but, in that moment, I didn't want to live.

"After the crash, I spent months coming and going from court and seeing the families of the people whose lives I'd destroyed. I ended up being sentenced to prison for six years and nine months.

"When the sentence was handed down, the other families and I came to an agreement that we would part ways and try to move on with our lives. But I know they'll never forgive me. I single-handedly destroyed those families and traumatised an entire community.

"When I got out of prison, I formed a very bad drug and alcohol problem. I found it difficult to face anyone or walk the streets of my home town. People called me all sorts of names and attacked me in broad daylight. I had to make the choice to move away from the area and make a fresh start elsewhere. I've had to move a lot.

"I find it hard to socialise with people now. Back then I was really social, but now I pretty much lock myself away unless I really have to go out.

"My darkest point would have been the morning the senior constable and his partner threw their police brief in front of me and I found out Emily was only 13 and Stephanie was 14 - the fact that I'd killed kids. I'll probably never forgive myself.

"Now, I go into schools and talk to kids about the dangers of distracted driving. I tell my story and explain how my life changed that night, how they'd hate to walk in my shoes. It was hard at first - I'm not good at public speaking - but it's getting easier. It helps inside if I can give back to the kids and try to save lives there - it helps me repair what I've done.

"This year marked the 10th anniversary of the crash. Any day of the year I could tell you how many days until the anniversary - I count like it was yesterday."

On June 20, 2007, then policeman Steven Gentle, 45, was called to a car accident in southern NSW. Danna Northey, 18, had crashed while texting. She later died from her injuries.
An emergency call came in from two farmers who'd come across an accident involving a young female driver. She was unconscious, still in the driver's seat, and she had some pretty horrific injuries. When she went off the road, her car had rolled a couple of times and then hit a tree, which tore the roof off. The farmers were really affected. You know, they don't see that stuff much.

"When I arrived, they were trying to suspend her arms and broken leg and they were worried about what to do if she stopped breathing. I said, 'We have to get her out of the car and do CPR until the ambulance arrives,' because [the ambulance] was still a fair way away. When the ambos did arrive they said she probably wasn't going to make it. In the end, she was in a coma for nearly two weeks and then they turned off her life support.

"I found her phone just outside the driver's side, on the ground. It was still on the screen with the text message half-written. She'd been sending her friend in Bathurst text messages during the trip saying which towns she'd passed through. When she ran off the road, she was just in the process of saying she was looking forward to seeing her. Afterwards, I rang her friend because I had to get a statement off her and she was just shattered.

"It doesn't take long to turn to tragedy - it's just a split second. I think people are addicted to Facebook and texting and emailing, and I don't think anything will change it, to tell you the truth. People always say it's not going to happen to me. They think they're indestructible.

"I spoke to Danna's father by phone and explained to him what I'd found and what I'd seen, and he just couldn't believe such a loss could happen over something so silly. He was being so careful with her car; she had new tyres and the car had been serviced, and he was trying to find some other reason why she'd had a car accident.
"But, no, it was just because she'd been texting."

On June 4, 2007, the car Helen Gledhill, 46, was driving was hit by a 17 year old who was texting in Rockhampton, Qld. Her friend Lee-Anne McLennan was killed.
Lee-Anne and I had been friends since Year 4, so the accident meant a 30-year friendship was gone in the blink of an eye. We spent nearly every day together. Cody, my youngest, is wheelchair-bound. He'd just started school three days a week and Lee-Anne and I had started to go shopping without having him with us.

"We were driving back to my place on the highway when all of a sudden this car, which was coming towards us, swerved across three lanes and cut across in front of me. I tried to brake, but I ended up running straight into the passenger side of his car.

"My station wagon was totalled. People came over to help and somebody checked Lee-Anne's pulse and said, 'No, she hasn't survived.' She was dead in the passenger seat beside me while they had to cut me out of the car. It was horrific.

"I was in hospital for three weeks and missed my best friend's funeral. I broke my ankle and left elbow ... and ended up with a cracked sternum and a broken rib. I'm in pain every day and for seven years I've been heavily medicated on antidepressants.

"Later, I found out from the coroner there were two young men in separate cars, both heading to Rockhampton, texting each other. The young man wasn't injured at all and got away without even a fine. But he killed my friend.

"I miss Lee-Anne every day. You know when you have a best friend and something funny happens, you want to tell them? That happens all the time. But she's not there."