Teen shares story about the dangers of texting while driving Posted: Oct 04, 2009 7:57 PM PDT Updated: Nov 05, 2009 7:08 AM PST By Marisela Burgos - bio | email LOUISVILLE, KY (WAVE) - An 18-year-old girl had luck on her side after she survived a car crash. The Kentuckiana teen was driving and texting. On July 4th, 2008, Nicole Meredith totaled her Mazda Millenia while she drove to her friend’s house on the Gene Snyder. Just last week, she spoke in Washington, D.C. at a Distracted Drivers Conference. She was invited by Seventeen Magazine. Meredith wants to continue sharing her story to teens before it’s too late and it happens to them. When Meredith was 17 she said she made a bad choice. I could have just waited, she said. But, Nicole Meredith did not wait to send her friend a text message. She said she does not understand why she needed to tell her friend she would be at her house in 5 minutes. The instant Meredith hit send, she looked up and half of her car was on the grass on the Gene Snyder Freeway. I had no control, she said. She remembered her car spun on the highway. The glass windows of her Mazda Millenia broke and she ended up on the other side of the median. She hit 3 barriers blocking on-coming traffic before stopping. To me, texting was just a 2nd nature. I really didnt think that it was something that was bad to do, Meredith explained. The teen kept her secret hidden for months. She said she told her parents a lie because she knew she would not get another car. She said she realized the lie was dumb and selfish. I told them that a bug flew into my car and thats why I totaled my car, but I didnt say anything about the texting, Meredith said. The only people Meredith shared her secret that she had been texting when she crashed were her friends. Then, a representative from Seventeen Magazine learned about the teenagers story. They contacted her asking her to share her story in an upcoming issues. The truth came out because of it. Her dad, Jason Meredith, remembered learning the truth close to a year later, She said, You know that article for Seventeen magazine? Its not really about what you think it’s about, in fact, I was texting while I was driving. Jason Meredith said his daughter cheated death that day. Meredith said she learned her lesson. She wants other teens to learn it too. What people need to understand is that it can happen to anybody, not just me, she said. Meredith said she doesnt text while driving anymore. In fact, her text message alert is on silent. In the future, she plans to share her story at schools and churches. The teen has a website where she blogs about that experience and you can view it, by clicking here. https://facebook/nicoleoceane Copyright 2009 WAVE-TV and Raycom Media. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Posted on: Tue, 19 Nov 2013 00:29:24 +0000
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