Faces of Distracted Driving: Kassy Kerfoot, 18 "All it took was just a couple of seconds."

Kassy Kerfoot was on her way to a friend's house on December 29, 2009.  She was driving on a busy, five-lane highway when she lost control of her car and hit two oncoming vehicles.  She died five hours later.

At the time of the crash, Kassy, 18, was texting with a friend.

"We had talked about it and talked about it so many times," says Kassy's mother, Liz Catherman. "She never thought something like this would happen to her.  [She thought] she was good enough at texting, and she was fast at it, so nothing could happen."

 

Liz Catherman shares her story in our latest Faces of Distracted Driving video.

"I was just devastated," she says. "That empty part of our lives, nothing can drown that out.  Every time you go to bed at night, you just replay that same night over and over again."

Liz now advocates against distracted driving so other families don't have to replay the same nightmare over and over again:

"If you think it’s a personal choice, it’s not.  When you’re on a public road, you’re involving the public.  You’re making it everybody’s problem.  And I just thank god that my daughter didn’t take any other lives."

For more information on talking with your teens about the dangers of distracted driving, please visit www.distraction.gov. Students can find easy ways to help their peers break this deadly habit on our young drivers' site.

To share your own story, email faces@distraction.gov.

Kassy Kerfoot, April 24, 1991 - December 29, 2009

Comments

[jimmy dietrich]

we were almost killed by teens texting and driving (over 100 mph) we are alive today, but we see the addiction it has on EVERYONE, they can pass all the laws in the world, it WON'T stop them. they are more addicted that drug users.. something must be done... sorry for your pain and loss. I will send you pictures of our car, and what happened to us 2 years ago... be at peace..jimmy

[Tennis]

It's very sad that young people die because of their carelessness.

[Mel Lifshitz]

This is really, really sad but this also serves as a lesson to other drivers to keep all their attention to the road. No cellphones, smoking, drinking, etc.. There's been a lot of accident reports like this but people never learned from examples.