Dutch Fork High Students Pledge to W8 2 Txt

Subway and the South Carolina Highway Patrol have joined forces to educate students about the dangers of texting while driving through the W8 2 TXT Safe Driver Awareness campaign.

Dutch Fork High School was one of several schools in the state to participate in the kickoff for the campaign aimed at young drivers ages 15 to 24.

According to the Highway Patrol, 165 out of 820 people killed on South Carolina's roads were young people. Young drivers represent 20 percent of the deaths on the roads.

“If you text five seconds, you have traveled the length of a football field and really you haven’t seen anything around you,” S.C. Highway Patrol Maj. Leroy Taylor said. “You can very easily get in an accident or hurt someone else.”

“We don’t want drunk drivers on the road (or) impaired drivers because it slows down their reaction time. You can ruin someone’s life and the life of your family members just because you couldn’t wait to text.”

Getting into an accident because of texting while driving is a personal story for Ashley Marriah, a 20-year-old from Greenville.

Wearing the scars on her head and arms from a single-car accident in June 2011, Marriah shares her story with students of how texting while driving changed her life forever.

On June 26, Marriah said she was driving down Interstate 385 on her way to pick up her mother from the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport.

Missing her exit, Marriah picked up her phone to text her mother to say she was going to be late.

“When I looked up, I was a little too far on the side. I thought I was going to hit the wall, so I over-corrected and there was a car on my right side so I went back the other way and fishtailed. My car hit the wall and then I flipped about six or seven times.”

Marriah was thrown out the left side window of her car and was dragged underneath it.

Marriah said she spent three days in the hospital after the accident and even months later she still has gravel in her arms.

“I didn’t know whether or not I would be able to play guitar,” Marriah said. “I didn’t know whether or not I would be able to do most of the things that I would usually do.”

“I had faith and I trust in God that he had a plan because I was still alive.  After that I decided this was a big deal to me and I wanted to help other people not make the same mistake I did and show them how important it really is to not text and drive.”

Marriah's story inspired Juliana Johnson, 16, to sign the pledge Friday.

Johnson said she would think before sending a text while driving.

"It’s dangerous," Johnson said. "There’s really nothing good that comes from it. It’s not worth it."

Ali Saifi, president and chief executive office at Subway Development Corporation of South Carolina, said the repercussions of texting and driving hit home for him in 2010.

Saifi said the daughter of a Subway manager was killed in a single-car accident.

On the way back from her funeral, Saifi said he couldn’t shake the pain and suffering he witnessed and wanted to do something.

Saifi, who is originally from Iran, said he wanted to give back to the country and South Carolina for helping him so he decided to help others through the campaign.

“If I can save one life, I am happy,” Saifi said. “There’s no text, there’s no email that’s important enough that they can’t wait to check it.”

During Friday's presentation, students were able to sign the W8 2 TXT pledge and received free glow-in-the-dark wristbands. Students can also visit the W8 2 TXT website and sign the virtual pledge wall.

Each pledge is counted in a high school challenge to win free subs provided by Subway for the entire school. Winners will be announced in April during National Distracted Driving Awareness Month.