Written Testimonials

In Loving Memory of Alex Joseph McCrystal I live in a small country town, where not much happens. Although one night changed our whole county. It happened on March 30, 2007, one week after my friend Alex's 17th birthday. Alex was a fun loving, good hearted boy that would light up the room when he entered. He loved to play baseball, and he had played in a scrimmage that night about 15 minutes away from our county. It was a pretty bad night, and it was raining really hard out. At around ten o'clock, Alex was headed to a friend's house and took a shortcut back through the country on a curvy road. He had just gotten off the phone with his dad, who was begging him to come home... but Alex wasn't going to go home yet. He was supposed to meet some more friends at a friend’s house and they were just going to hang out. Alex was alone in a Red Z-71 Chevy pick-up truck, one that he had been driving forever. Although HE DID NOT HAVE HIS SEAT BELT ON. He went around a sharp curve, lost control and was ejected from his truck... the truck came to rest on top of him... he was killed instantly. On that night, I didn't know that this tragic thing had happened to a friend, someone that I had known since kindergarten. The morning after, my aunt called me and was asking me all kinds of questions and trying to explain to me what had happend, I didn't believe her when she told me he had been killed, and so I called some friends, and the news was true... At first I was in shock and didn't want to believe it. I mean how can God take such a wonderful person away from us. Alex was such a sweet boy... he had the whole world at his feet... He was cute, funny, sweet and popular at our school. But he wasn't like most of the popular people, he at least was kind to everyone and never treated anyone bad. His parents are some of the finest people that you could ever meet and his brother is still grieving over his loss. When Alex died, it had the biggest impact that I have ever seen in our community and some still haven't fully recovered. Alex was killed on a Friday night and on Monday at our highschool, as you walked in there was silence, no one was talking. Everyone in the school was crying and hugging. It was the most horrible thing that I have ever experienced. We had a memorial assembly that morning to let friends share memories of him and there wasn't a dry eye in our gym. And at his funeral there were so many people there that they were standing outside. Even the baseball teams from surrounding areas came to pay their respects. So please, in Loving Memory of a dear friend, Alex Joseph McCrystal, I am begging everyone that reads this TO BUCKLE UP BEFORE YOU START UP!!! SEAT BELTS DO SAVE LIVES!!! I Love You Alex, and miss you like crazy!!! - Kayla C. [ Livermore, KY ]

Gone Many Years - But it Feels Like Yesterday The summer before my freshman year in high school, my brother Bruce, who was only 19, was leaving a drive-in movie theatre (yes, it was a long time ago) because he had heard that a girl he liked had just left to go to a party so he was in a hurry to go find her. Witnesses said that it appeared that he hesitated for a moment but then pulled out right in front of an 18-wheeler carrying a load of pipe. Everyone at the movie theatre heard the crash. He had a crushed chest and multiple internal injuries - he was pronounced dead on arrival at the local hospital. I didn't want to learn how to drive after that but eventually I did learn. Today, as a parent of a soon to be teen driver this all comes back to me once again. With all of the distractions today (cell phones, etc.) I know that teen drivers have it even tougher trying to keep their minds on what they are supposed to be doing - DRIVING. I am hoping to start a TDS program in our local high school to bring awareness to teens about driving safely. - Julie [ Pearland, TX ]

Never Thought That It Would Happen To HER! My cousin Nikki died in a car wreck June 14, 2004 at the age of 16. She was a very safe driver, always wore her seatbelt and payed attention to all things around her. One day she was in town with one of her friends, and wasn't wearing her seatbelt. The reason for that was unknown. Her friend didn't have his seatbelt on either. It was raining hard and the roads were very slippery because we had not gotten much rain at that time. We are led to believe that something caught Nikki's attention, such as a cell phone or the radio, and made her look away from the road. She lost control of her Mini Cooper and wrecked. The two teenagers were ejected from the car and instantly killed. I am only 15 years old, and I still remember getting that phone call like it was just yesterday. All I have to say is for ALL TEENAGERS, along with ADULTS, PLEASE WEAR YOUR SEATBELTS! Some people say that seatbelts do not always save your life, and that IS true, but is the chance really worth taking NOT wearing your seatbelt? You are more likely to walk away from a wreck when wearing your sealtbelt than not wearing it. This is not just a personal opinion, this is also from expierience. I am on a volunteer fire/rescue department in my city, and I have seen many accidents! All I have to say for us teenage drivers is BE CAREFUL! A wreck IS NOT always your fault. But wrecks do kill many teenagers and friends DAILY! - Ashley [ Ashville, AL ]

Not the same anymore My daughter died in a car accident on April 5, 2008. She was a passenger in a vehicle that was driven by a 15 year old boy. They were at a school event, and received a call that some other students needed a ride. She got in the car because there were 2 boys to 1 girl, and she didn't feel that her friend would be safe to go alone with those 2 boys. After they picked up the other friends, they were headed back to the school, and were less than half way back when the driver decided to pass a car in front of them. He lost control of the vehicle, it rolled over quite a few times. There were 7 passengers. The students were either discharged the next day or had to stay at the hospital for surgery. One girl had to have back surgery. My daughter was the only fatality. I have been in contact with the school to start a chapter there. - M.V. [ Edinburg, TX ]

Friends Driving I'm 17 years old and last year one of the worst things that has happend to me occured. Me and a few friends went to a party just like every Friday. But someone who is new to town decided that a party is not a party without beer and liquor. I was smart enough to know that was a bad idea. Plus, underage drinking + parents finding out = screwed. So I just stayed away. Well, my friends didn't do the same. They gave in and got really drunk. So I decided that I'm driving them all home and taking his car to my house so he can pick it up in the morning. A few hours later they got the idea to go to the lake and chill out till morning... without me knowing about it. All 3 of them got into the car and left me. A few hours later around dawn I get a call from John's mom saying that he's in the ER. So I get dressed and head down there. He was in critical condition and David and Josh died on impact. They hit a tree going around 90 mph from what the police said judging from the skid marks. I was crushed, I lost 2 really close frinds. From that day on I haven't touched a bottle and I'm not planning on it. - Larry [ Killeen, TX ]

family almost killed my mother, my sister shureka, brothers enrique and henry... they were going out to the local store and were on their way home when this lady was driving on the wrong side of the road and hit my mom head on. thank god to this day that they were all wearing their seat belts because that made a big difference. the van that they were in hit two other cars behind them causing them to crash into mcdonalds. my family spent two months going to the doctors and it changed my life. now that i know i have to learn about that it's just an example that shows me what can happen. - jasmine t. [ Dale City, VA ]

Sachse High School student, Kaylee Eller died in a tragic crash late last month I’m just amazed at the number of deaths and accidents in Texas alone that are listed on your website. I had no idea. I have three very young babies (Kaylee’s half-siblings) and this will forever be in our hearts. It will certainly change our views of teen safety, especially when our little ones become teens. I am Kaylee’s stepmother and her father and I will be working with her high school’s Teens In The Driver Seat group. [ Sachse, TX ]

My Angel Corey Almost four years ago my son Corey Gonzales and three of his friends were joy riding. Who would have thought that ride would have been his last? The driver of the Suburban had barely turned 15. How in the world was he allowed to drive at this age? I will tell you how. Not enough supervision from a parent. The driver of the car lost control and hit a pillar before slamming the Suburban into a tree killing my son and one of his friends. Another boy was also left in a coma. The driver was the only one that was not hurt. He is in prision for two counts of manslaughter and one count of attemped manslaughter. He has been there for the last 2 1/2 years.

I AM TELLING ALL YOU TEENAGERS OUT THERE READING THIS!!!!!! It can happen to you.

I am speaking from my own son's experience. I would tell him look at the news! Look at all the accidents involving teenagers. It does happen.

I have only the beautiful memories of My Angel Corey. He would have been graduating this year. So you see, you all need to think before you kill yourselves or others. Do you think my son had told himself, "I think today is a good day to die." Of course not. Again, please think before you drive. A car is not a toy.

Hello. My Name is Kerstin W. About two years ago I had a friend who got into a car accident because she was texting on her phone. This friend was not just any girl (she was a very popular person.) Every one thought that this would never happen to her but until this day she is lucky she did not get killed. I feel for her family. Now two years later she is in perfect condition but still feels pain every once in a while. - KW [ Angleton, TX ]

President, Dennis Mitchell Empowerment Seminars Story My name is Dennis Mitchell. I was one of the parents that received that knock on the door telling me that my 5 year old son was killed by an impaired driver. As a result my life has totally changed. Instead of turning to drugs and alcohol to drown my pain and sorrow, I made it my life's quest to go to schools and work with youth about choices, responsibility and highway traffic safety.

Since that dreadful day I have hosted and produced my own TV talk show series called CHOICES for 7 years where I interviewed many stars on the big screen, become a multiple award winning international motivational speaker, published author and now I am recognized as a foremost authority working with young people. I work with government agencies, highway traffic.

This is my way of carrying on my son's legacy. - Dennis Mitchell [ Spokane Valley, WA ]

screaching...sparks...and FIRE! Somewhere around the middle of my 8th grade summer my family and I had been relaxing at home. I had been watching tv, my mom was in her bedroom reading a book, and my dad had been in the kitchen putting up the leftovers from dinner. Everything had been quiet and kind of peaceful until I heard the noise. To me it sounded like some kind of crazy fireworks going off, until it was followed by something rolling around on the highway. When I realized what it had been I was scared, I was hoping that it was not what I imagined it was. But it was! A red car had a blow out and went out of control and flew into my front yard. As I was looking out the door to see if someone was in it, what would have been the hood of the car was upside down and it had caught on fire! I knew that if the fire moved to the gas tank then that would be it. I started to hear screaming coming from the car and at that moment my heart stopped. I ran across the house to tell my dad that the car had caught fire and there was a woman inside it. He ran to get our little fire extinguisher, it was small but at this point anything could help! Right when the fire extinguisher ran out another man showed up with one right before the fire truck, the ambulence and cops came. If we didn't have that extinguisher something awful would have happend that night. - Katie [ Marble Falls, TX ]

M-AZING When I was about twelve or thirteen I was supposed to go with my mom to work. It was bring your daughter to work day and it ended up raining. She got in an accident that day and she hit a tree that crushed the whole passenger side, where I was supposed to be. If I had gone with her I would have died... She told me later she had a feeling for me to stay home... That saved my life!!! I'm 15 now and terrified to get my permit (not planning to get it any time soon.) My dad is working on helping me, but I can't drive by myself yet... I am a member of TDS in Texas... I want to prevent any more of these accidents. No more losses... - Ariel [ Marble Falls, TX ]

My first car One time my friends and I were going to a sleep over. There were 5 persons in the car and I was driving. My "supposed" friends were making loud noises and moving around so much so that I couldn't concentrate on my driving and I crashed into two trucks. It was my worst day ever because my friends were hurt and I had all the responsibility of the damage. This happened December 20, 2007 at 9:24 at night. - Michele [ El Paso, TX ]