“Instead of starting these ripples of pain, what if we do the opposite?”
Jacy Good stood in front of the student body at Camden High School and asked this exact question on Thursday, May 22nd. Along with husband Steve Johnson, Good was on stage to empower and inspire students to not make the same choices that started those ripples in their own lives. Namely, the choice to drive distracted.
Since 2008, the couple has been living with the far-reaching ripple effect of a person’s decision to do just that. At that time, Good was receiving her degree from Muhlenberg College and was set to start work with AmeriCorps. That was until a horrific automobile accident changed everything. Just hours after graduating college, a car Jacy was in got struck by a tractor trailer that swerved to avoid a person turning left through a red light. The latter was on their phone at the time of the accident.
The consequences of that red light infraction were permanent, and made much more likely by the presence of a cell phone. Jacy lost both of her parents, and was fighting for her own life in the hospital, a fight that included over eight hours of surgery. She suffered permanent damage to the left side of her body and still has limited function in her limbs.
Jacy now tours the country with her husband to encourage people to avoid making the potentially destructive choice to drive distracted in hopes that nobody in her audience becomes one of the nine deaths per day due to distracted driving in the United States, a number that is believed to be significantly under-reported. They spread their message with a simple mantra: Hang Up and Drive.
During a school-wide presentation, Jacy brought her story to life from a survivor’s perspective with help from Steve, who had to contend with it all as her longtime boyfriend at the time. Jacy detailed the impact that her accident had on herself and others in the short-term and long-term, and how the choice to pick up a phone while driving can start a truly painful ripple effect. The couple was also keen to share how distracted driving can drastically affect vision and awareness behind the wheel, and that even hands-free use has its faults.
They also shared the good that has come out of a truly unfortunate situation. Since her accident, Jacy has campaigned for a motorist cell phone ban in her home state of Pennsylvania, has appeared at the United Nations, and in AT&T’s impactful “It Can Wait” campaign.
Ahead of the couple's 2013 wedding, Jacy also appeared on TLC’s “Say Yes To The Dress”, and told students how difficult that experience was without her own mother being present.
To date, the couple has spoken to over 400,000 people about making better choices behind the wheel, including young people like the students at Camden High School.
According to Assistant Principal Dr. Bill Snyder, the message was powerful and the timing was perfect to host these speakers at CHS with the academic year close to concluding. With more time on their hands, students may be traveling more often, which can inherently increase risks.
“As we begin the summer season, we want our students to be mindful of the dangers of distracted driving,” Snyder said.
This opportunity was funded through the New York State SADD (Students Against Destructive Decisions) bureau through a grant from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee. Additional distracted driving education will be brought to CHS on June 6th when the US Army Distracted Driver Asset visits.
For more information on the “Hang Up and Drive” campaign, visit
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