Photo by: Jim Tatum

Summerville High School students sign a large poster that will declare their promise not t text and drive. The board will be displayed in the school.

Photo by: Jim Tatum

SC Highway Patrol Lt. Col. Chris Williamson addresses the Summerville High School student body. At left are Ashley Marriah and Ali Saiti, president and CEO of Subway Development Corporation of South Carolina. Behind Williamson, from left, are Summerville Police Department Assistant Chief Major Frank Nigro Jr., SPD Capt. Roger Pierce, SCHP Lance Corporal Bill Rhyne, and SCHP Lance Corporal Judd Jones.

Photo by: Jim Tatum

Ashley Marriah, now 20 years old, almost didn’t make that birthday. Marriah was badly injured in 2011 in a car crash caused while she was texting and driving. She is now a spokeswoman for efforts to stop people, especially young drivers, from texting and driving.

Any reader confused by the above headline probably has nothing to worry about.

For anyone else who regularly communicates via text message – especially teens -- the meaning of the above headline should be as straightforward as it is succinct: Wait to text. Do not text and drive. Wait and pull over.

W8 2 Txt, a statewide campaign with the goal of bringing awareness to the dangers of texting and driving to high school aged drivers and to get them to promise not to do this, kicked off Wednesday morning at Summerville High School. The idea, a partnership between Subway, high schools across the state, and the SC Highway Patrol and local law enforcement agencies, is to educate young drivers about the dangers of texting and driving through education as well as positive reinforcement: the high school in South Carolina with the highest percentage of students who sign the pledge promising not to text and drive will receive a free lunch from Subway.

Distracted drivers are dangerous drivers, noted Lance Corporal Eric Flowers of the SCHP.

“There are many distractions to deal with these days,” he said. “You may think you’re only looking away for a second or two, but consider this: texting for five seconds at 55 miles per hour is like driving the length of a football field blind.”

SCHP Lt. Col. Chris Williamson noted that the campaign is all about saving lives. Sadly, statistics show that, while drivers aged 15-24 make up only a small percentage of total drivers, they make up the largest percentage of those killed in traffic accidents. Last year, 165 drivers in that age group died in accidents in South Carolina. And a study conducted by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that drivers who text and drive are 23 times more likely to crash, he said.

Helping to bring that point home is 20-year-old Ashley Marriah, who was involved in a horrific accident on I-385 near Greenville on Jan. 26, 2011.  She was on her way to pick up her mother from the airport and was actually sending her mother a text telling her she would be late because she missed her exit. When she looked up from her phone, she was too close to the median wall. She over-corrected, causing her vehicle to flip six or seven times, throwing her out of the window and dragging her across the pavement.

“This is real,” she said as she walked through the crowd talking to students. “I didn’t know if I would ever see my dreams again, I didn’t know if I would look the same, if I would play guitar. I’m scarred, scarred for life,” she said.

She has recovered pretty well, although she still ahs gravel in her arm and some slight scarring on her forehead. But despite the ordeal, she is grateful to have come through her ordeal and glad to be working to spread the message, she said.

“I’m speaking on behalf of myself and those who have lost their lives,” she said. “Wait. Just wait. That text, that call is just not worth it. It’s not worth your life.”

Ali Saifi, president and CEO of Subway Development Corporation of South Carolina Inc., told the students he is a first generation immigrant to the U.S. and because of the opportunity offered in America and his success in business here, he feels very strongly about giving back to the community.

“This country has done so much for my family – I am so indebted, and I just want to give back any way I can,” he said.

But he said he especially felt like he had to do something after a tragedy struck the Subway family last year. Saifi said one of the restaurant owners lost a daughter, a third year student at University of South Carolina, to a deadly auto accident caused when she became distracted by texting and driving.

“When I left that funeral, I don’t believe I have ever seen a father and a mother in so much sheer agony,” he said. “I knew right then I had to do something – I just didn’t know exactly what. So when I got back to the office, I called everyone in and told them we needed to get involved, to come up with a plan, and I would be 100 percent behind it.”

The result was the W8 2 Txt campaign. High schools throughout South Carolina can get involved; students may sign the pledges to not text while driving on paper or sign up online.

For more information go to www.w82txtpledge.com.

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