Text Before Crash: Youth Narrowly Survives, Promotes Text-Free Driving
A college student who barely survived a car crash due to texting has pledged to warn others of the dangers of texting and driving.
Chance Bothe of Victoria, Texas had just sent a text message which read, "I need to quit texting, because I could die in a car accident," when his truck veered off the road and into a ravine.
"And right after that, I got in a car crash," Bothe explained, speaking to ABC13 in Houston.
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The 21-year-old college student was driving home to Ganado, Texas after an early class. Bothe suffered a broken neck, a crushed face, a fractured skull, and traumatic brain injuries as a result of the car accident. He barely survived, and doctors had to resuscitate him three different times.
Over the past six months, Bothe has been recovering in rehabilitation and working to regain the ability to function as he did before the accident.
His good fortune in surviving the accident caused by text messaging has given Bothe a reason to spread the lesson to others.
"Don't do it, it's not worth losing your life," said Bothe, according to the Daily News. "I went to my grandmother's funeral not long ago, and I kept thinking, it kept jumping into my head, I'm surprised that's not me up in that casket. I came very close to that, to being gone forever."
Bothe is not the only one whose life changed following the close call. His mother, Vickie Bothe, has also spoken about the dangers of texting and driving.
"It affects everyone, it's just not worth it," said Chance's mother said while speaking to Today.com.
While the college student still recovers from serious injury and is doing well, Bothe explained that her son is different because of the accident.
"Most days he does pretty well, but there's a pretty significant change in his personality," she said. "He had to learn everything over again."
Bothe described the numerous procedures and facial reconstruction her son underwent, and referred to the 21-year-old as "a million dollar kid."
"He had to learn to speak with proper voice inflection," she continued. "He had to learn how to convey emotion. Prior to the accident, he was an extremely intelligent child. He painted, he played music, he was a math whiz."
Text messaging while driving has caused thousands of fatal accidents as the form of communication continues to grow in popularity. Moreover, social media websites being accessible on cell phones also contributes to a growing number of vehicular accidents.
The issue has caused countless advocacy groups and lawmakers to call for strict policies forbidding the use of handheld devices in cars.
After a tragic car accident involving college students near Bowling Green, Ohio, the town passed legislation that made any kind of distracted driving illegal and subject to a $25 fine.
