I’ll keep this post very short. This one’s really all about the video; an effort that goes nicely with Wednesday’s post.

Click image below for larger view…

UPDATE: Be sure to watch new video featuring Lake Washington High School seniors Shannon Bebee, Taylor LaFave and Kaylin Wilson in the February 25th, 2011 post, NEW VIDEO: #WASNOW CAN’T DAMPEN LAKE WASHINGTON STUDENTS’ RESOLVE TO FIGHT #DWD, #TWD

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STORY INCLUDES VIDEO

Hard to believe, but today marks the anniversary of Heather Lerch’s passing.  Heather’s life ended instantly after she decided to text while driving.  Her smile.  Her promising future.  Snuffed from the planet inside of a single, unimaginable, violent second.

But Heather’s story continues to touch lives, as illustrated by an event unfolding this week at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland, Washington.  It all started shortly before heathersstory.org received an e-mail on January 3rd.

That e-mail began, “My name is Shannon Bebee. I am a student at Lake Washington High School in Kirkland. For my senior project, I (along with two of my friends) am organizing a Public Relations campaign against texting while driving.”

Fast-forward to yesterday afternoon.  Heather’s mangled car—what her Dad once referred to as a coffin on wheels—arrived at Shannon’s school where it will remain on display today and tomorrow (Friday).  Meantime, Shannon and her fellow student project organizers have graciously written the following story for this Web site.  Their story explains why they’ve embraced Heather’s.

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by Shannon Bebee, Kaylin Wilson, and Taylor LaFave
for heathersstory.org
February 23, 2011

We had been looking online for ideas for a possible focus for our DECA public relations campaign when we discovered heathersstory.org. We immediately felt a personal connection because Heather Lerch was a local teen so similar in age to both ourselves and our peers.

After finding heathersstory.org, we began to look more deeply into the dangers of texting while driving and were shocked to discover alarming statistics  concerning how frequently people in our age group text while driving.

And unlike other known publicized driving hazards, texting while driving has largeley flown under the radar; especially unrecognized by the people who stand to be most affected by it: teens.

We felt that if we could spread the message on a peer-to-peer level, perhaps students would take this issue to heart. Using Heather’s story as the core of our campaign, we are able to show the real life effects and overwhelming impacts of texting while driving.  Ultimately, we want to drive home the point that this can happen to anyone.

We knew we needed something eye-catching—bordering on startling—if we were to get our  student body to take notice.  We began making posters about TWD; several included jarring facts.  Next, we developed ideas for events that could be held at our school.  We wanted those events to push our campaign forward by getting our peers involved.

We decided to host an Awareness Week, honoring Heather and the anniversary of her death, during which her car would be displayed at our school. We’d also encourage students to sign Oprah’s No Phone Zone pledge and run an informational slide show during both lunch hours.

On Friday, we’ll hand-out Smarties.  We’ve attached short messages with alarming statistics to the candy; all aimed at convincing students to avoid texting-while-driving.  In other words, “Be a Smartie.”

To be honest, this whole process has been quite a learning process for the three of us.  Only after many hours of research are we truly aware of the dangers of texting-while-driving.  And now we feel a responsibility to spread that knowledge by sharing it with our peers.

It has been amazing to work with so many eager and passionate mentors, including; Heather’s parents and State Trooper Julie Startup who brought Heather’s car to our school. These new relationships only strengthened our resolve to make this project as significant and successful as possible.

The project has presented its share of challenges.  At times, it’s been difficult to turn our ideas into reality while keeping-up with college applications and graduation requirements.  But the challenges only added to our drive to do justice to this important issue and to those who have been affected by it.

(editor’s note #1:  Miss Bebee, Miss Wilson and Miss LaFave provided heathersstory.org with their PowerPoint presentation.  I’ve taken the liberty of converting it to a movie and adding some music.)

Lake Washington PowerPoint / February 23, 2011

(editor’s note #2: Later this week, heathersstory.org will have more coverage of the event at Lake Washington High School.)

Update #5: (6:49pm/PST): Here’s tonight’s KING-TV news story featuring Heather’s mother, Wendy Lerch:

*Update #4: (5:41pm/PST): Young woman killed in last night’s texting-while-driving crash identified as Ashley Rene Jones-Davis of Tumwater (source: SeattlePI.com) *Please note: this update was revised on February 28 to include link to obituary and to correct last name; previously reported as “Davis-Jones.”

Update #3 (3:55pm/PST): KING-5′s been super @ responding to my inquiries via Twitter.  At this hour, KING-5 tells me that the story featuring Wendy Lerch is presently scheduled to air around 5:30pm.  A link for streaming the 5pm newscast live will appear on KING-5′s home page shortly before 5pm. The story is expected to be added to KING’s Web site around 7pm.

Update #2 (3:20pm/PST): This afternoon, The Seattle Times published a story featuring an interview with Wendy Lerch.  It’s driving a lot of traffic to heathersstory.org right now.  Thank you Seattle Times and all of you stopping by for the first time!

Update #1 (3:18pm/PST): Heather Lerch’s mother, Wendy, has just informed me that she was interviewed by KING-TV today.  A  story featuring that interview will air tonight.  No word yet on which newscast. Not certain, but I think this is the link for watching live streams of KING’s newscasts.  The story concerns last night’s fatal crash in Rochester.

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With fewer than 2,000 residents, Rochester is a quiet town south of Olympia, Washington.  It rests upon just 2.3 square miles of rural land.

Rochester could almost be Anywhere, USA.

But the town has just experienced its second texting-while-driving fatal crash in less than one year.

Police say a woman was killed last night when she crossed the center line on State Route 12 and struck a van.  The driver of the van was not hurt.

KOMO News reports, “Investigators believe the killed driver was texting in the moments before the crash as they found an open cell phone on the floorboard of the car.”

The woman, whose name has not been released, was 22.

No name, no face to put on this story at this moment.  Yet, the vision of another young woman instantly comes to mind.

Heather Lerch was just 19 when she died instantly after she decided to text while driving on the night of February 23, 2010.

Friday night’s fatality comes just five days prior the anniversary of Heather’s death.

Heather’s crash happened in nearby Little Rock, but she was less than three miles from her home in Rochester.

Two women.  Their lives seemingly yet to unfold.  But the strikingly similar police photos of their mangled cars shatter that notion.

Rochester is not just Anywhere, USA today.  More than ever, it serves as a powerful example of why people should never text while driving.

New:  See how reporter Georgia Lewis’ story appeared in The National’s print edition:

The National, page 1 (pdf), The National, page 2 (pdf)

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Several weeks ago, heathersstory.org was contacted by reporter Georgia Lewis of The National, an English language newspaper published in the United Arab Emirates.  Lewis explained that she was working on a story about the alarmingly high number of fatal crashes in the UAE.  Texting while driving, she added, is a significant part of the problem. Lewis was particularly focused on how a growing number of online efforts are aimed at making roadways safer and, ultimately, saving lives.

In her research, Lewis found heathersstory.org and learned about the texting while driving crash that instantly killed 19-year-old Heather Lerch earlier this year.  Lewis wanted to learn more about how this Web site came to be.  She sent several questions to heathersstory.org via e-mail.  Many of those responses are now included in her September 15th in-depth story, Click for safety (full story).  In this case, “click” isn’t limited to seat belts.  Rather, it’s a simple click on your computer.

The opening paragraph of Click for safety sets the tone :

“The UAE has one of the highest per capita rates of road deaths in the world and raising awareness of safe driving practices is a long process. While the police are improving law enforcement, regular people and organisations are trying to raise awareness and change attitudes among drivers. One of the easiest – and cheapest – ways to do this is online.”
-The National

The National’s story also includes a picture of Heather’s mangled car taken on the night of her crash.

Wendy Lerch had seen other roadside memorials and knew she wanted one to honor the life of the 19-year-old daughter she’d lost earlier this year.

“Kind of a permanent memorial for her,” Lerch explained.  “My brother works for DOT so I sent him on a task to find out how to get one for Heather.  Brent, my brother, paid for the sign in Heather’s honor.”

On August 27, Wendy and her husband, Dan Lerch, were on-hand when the Thurston County Road Department placed the new sign at the scene of the crash that instantly killed Heather Lerch earlier this year.  The sign reads, PLEASE DRIVE SAFELY.  In memory of HEATHER LERCH.

Based on phone records, the coroner’s report and the time of the first call made to 9-11, Heather’s parents say they have no doubt that she was texting while driving at the time of her crash. Heather had been driving home from work at a Subway restaurant in nearby Tumwater.  She was less than 3-miles from home when her car left Littlerock Road at approximately 60 miles-per-hour.

Below, you can view additional photos of the new sign going-up on August 27th. Each photo can be clicked for a larger view.

Powerful. Gripping.  A “must-watch” video. All words I tend to avoid as they so often seem coated with hype;  the frosting that hides a soggy cake of disappointment.

But not this time.  In truth, “powerful,” “gripping” and “must watch” still seem to come-up short when attempting to describe the video I’ve just watched.  It runs 10-minutes.  No second is wasted.

Titled, Utah Texting While Driving PSA 1085-Echo: A Texting Tragedy, the video expertly shows how one teenager’s decision to text while driving shattered many lives.

Please, give it a chance.  Watch.  And if so compelled, tell someone about it.

If you’d like to explore more videos about texting while driving, you can simply click on the YouTube icon in the toolbar at the bottom of this page.  In addition to those videos, you can also find two videos about Heather Lerch featured on this site.

In the war against distracted driving, Wendy Lerch has just taken her message to the front lines.  She is motivated by the threat of more casualties in a battle that–just six months ago–became  so very, very personal.

On a February night, 19-year-old Heather Lerch was driving home from work when her car left the road and struck a guardrail.  The teen died instantly.  Wendy and her husband, Dan, are convinced that their daughter was texting in her final seconds of life.

Nearly five months ago, Lerch went on-camera for a public service announcement and told the world, “I want to hold up a big sign, saying, ‘Do not text & drive.  My daughter lost her life.’”

And now Wendy Lerch has her sign; a mobile message, for anyone to see, that first appeared on Thursday.  It can be seen every time Lerch drives to her job in Olympia or when she simply sets-out to run errands.

Large text now stretches across the rear window of Lerch’s blue Toyota 4Runner, stating, “Hang up & Drive! In loving memory Heather Lerch, 1991-2010.”

Lerch told me about the sign on Friday, then agreed to answer a few questions via e-mail:

heathersstory.org: When did you decide to put the sign on the back window?  And why?

Wendy Lerch: I mentioned in the video that I wanted to hold up a big sign to let people know that I lost my daughter to texting and driving.  I’m tired of being almost hit by people that are not paying attention to what they are doing while driving.  I even rolled down my window and yelled at a woman who was busy texting and not watching where she was going (this was before I got my sign).  I said, “My daughter died texting and driving. You need to stop it now.”  I think I really scared her because she dropped her phone and said, “Okay.”

heathersstory.org: When did you have the sign done and start driving around with it?

Wendy Lerch: I just had it installed yesterday (August 12th). Now, Dan wants to get one put on his truck.

heathersstory.org: How have people reacted?

Wendy Lerch: I’ve seen people behind me pointing at the sign and talking to the teen sitting next to them. One guy on the freeway waved at me. I can let you know more after it’s been out there for a week or so.

heathersstory.org: Anything else you’d like to add?

Wendy Lerch: I’m just tired of seeing people with that damn phone up to their ear or up on the steering wheel while they are driving. Truck drivers are the worst because they are driving those huge death machines.  I don’t want to be a victim of their carelessness.

A quick post tonight to share that the home page on heathersstory.org has been updated to include a story written by Dan and Wendy Lerch. The story is a brief remembrance of their late-daughter Heather’s life, as well as a testimony to her potential and the way in which she touched many lives.

More than four months have passed since  the night Heather died in a car crash.  Her parents are convinced she was texting while driving. And that’s why they’ve spoken-out in the two videos featured on this site, and again in the story you can now read on this site’s home page.

Quite simply, Heather’s parents—despite the pain of their tremendous loss—are reaching out because they don’t want distracted driving to rip apart the proper order of your life.

Given the current version of the Mariners, a home run can be hard to find in Seattle these days. But
KING-5′s Margaret Larson definitely hit the ball out of the park on her morning show today when she delivered a powerful segment dedicated to Washington state’s  new cell phone law.

Larson’s guests on New Day Northwest included Trooper Brandy Kessler of the Washington State Patrol, Department of Licensing spokesperson Anthony Sermonti,  attorney Jason Epstein (founder of Teens Against Distracted Driving) and Tumwater High School student Jena Graham.

Larson’s in-studio line-up also included the mangled wreckage of the car driven by 19-year-old Heather Lerch last February.  Heather’s parents say she was texting and driving when her car left the road, then T-Boned the end of a guardrail.  Heather died instantly.

More than 3-months have passed since 19-year-old Heather Lerch died instantly after her car left the road at an estimated 60 miles per hour and T-boned the end of a guardrail.  Just five weeks after that horrific night, Heather’s parents agreed to tell their daughter’s story on-camera, hoping it would dissuade people from distracted driving.

Thank you, Dan and Wendy Lerch, for sharing. And for somehow finding the inner strength to reach-out to others while you were still very much grieving the loss of your child.

People are listening.  And watching.  And reading.  Heather’s story has found its way to the to the front pages, newscasts and websites of several Puget Sound media.  Links to much of that media coverage can be found here.

Most recently, Heather’s story made a profound impact on students, faculty and staff as her mother spoke at Tumwater High School.  Heather graduated with honors from THS in 2009.  Wendy Lerch’s talk was part of a memorable two-day event at the school.  In case you missed it, The Olympian’s coverage of that story is highly recommended.

Heathersstory.org is a new website simply aimed at keeping the Lerch’s message very much alive.  Sadly, there are so many stories similar to Heather’s.  The mission here, then, begins with using Heather’s story as a launching point for more education.

In a way, Heather’s story now transcends the circumstances of her own death.  For it has become a compelling lesson now attracting the eyes and ears of people throughout Washington state and beyond.