The Clackamas print., May 31, 2017, Page 3, Image 3

Ghosts of fatalities make impacts
STORY AN D PHOTOS BY COLL(N BEREND
Shattered glass and a bloodstained old airbag
were some o f the remains that haunted the
totaled silver Toyota Tundra that was involved
in a crash in Sept. 26/2011.
The totaled tru ck w as on disp lay at
Clackamas Com m unity College in a trailer
last Week, provided by Oregon Im pact for
“ Alcohol Awareness Day, ” on May 24.
Oregon Impact is a non-profit organization
th at provides inform ation on distracted
driving. The truck belonged to LeAnn Brooks,
who was 25 and had a .195 blood alcohol
content level, more than twice the legal limit.
Brooks was driving more than 80 m ph
west on South Holcomb Blvd. in Oregon City
towards Redland Road w hen she failed to
react to the curve going right,
“ I need to g e t
involved, because I was
devastated, m y daughter
was devastated.”
-Carrie Higgins
It took 30 m in utes for responders to
remove her from the truck, which flipped
upon h ittin g th e rail and landed in the
trees, tailgate up. She suffered severe brain
damage, and later, having no brain activity,
was taken o ff life support.
The trailer payed the 911 audio o f people
calling in and reporting the crash.
Brooks is just one of many cases involving
Carrie and Halle Higgens talked to
students about their deceased family
member, Maddi Higgins, in frame.
crash related deaths v ia distractions or
inebriation.
Oregon Im pact did m ore than set up a
trailer. The organization helped the college’s
yearly event bring attention to distracted
driving, from texting and drinking to the
passenger in the car.
Last week inside the Com m unity Center,
police officers present with a K9 at their side
talked to students.
Stu d en ts wore can n abis,; or alco hq l
“ goggles” and tried to make basketball shots
through the visual illusion, o f being under
the influence.
American Medical Response was present
to teach CPR.
Another demonstration had students and
staff in alcohol goggles hold a steering wheel
and walk an obstacle course on a mat without
hitting anyone.
The mat was in the center of the room with
a road that had figures and a mail truck on it.
They represented objects on the road.
“ I couldn’t see anything,” said student
Lucas M idkiff. “ It was all blurry and kind
of trippy.”
Oregon Impact Executive Director Janelle
Lawrence explained how it works.
“ This mat was developed so we could use
either [cannabis or alcohol] goggles,” said
Lawrence. “ The average arrest for driving
under the influence (DUI) for Oregon is .23,
which is much more than the driving lim it.
W ith cannabis out now, that’ s an issue now
as w ell.” .
“ W hat it does to your brain when you’re
drinking or use a drug, it shifts everything
to the left, about 30 percent. So where she’s
seeing things, they’re not where they are,”
said Lawefence, using a participant at the
moment as an example. “ She thinks she’s
doing the right thing. She’s looking through
that wheel, but she’s not where she is.”
Lawrence said that the different games
and activities m ake educating the public
easier and more interactive, such as a game
that allows you to see the difference between
usin g your phone and h o w y o u ’re more
affected w hen calling or texting than you
actually believe.
The reason why attempting to multitask
while driving is difficult, despite popular
belief, is because the braid doesn’t actually
multitask, it shifts from one task to the other
at rapid speedm, she said.
Among the people appearing at the college
was a mother and her daughter who lost a
fam ily member in a driving accident.
A n gels was started by Carrie H iggin s,
a W est Lin n m other w hose 17-year-old
A student attempts to reinact drunk driving while going off course on May 24
during the Alcohol Awareness Day in the community center.
daughter, Maddi Higgins, was killed in an
accident with her boyfriend, Hayden Soyk, 18.
Four days from finishing her juhior year m
high school* Higgins and Soyk, a CCC student,
died in a car crash after Soyk lost control in
W est Linn on southwest Petes M ountain
Road in 2014.
Rather than sim ply grieving, Carrie has
made an effort to educate others. After the
death of her daughter, she learned that car
crashes are the leading cause of death among
teens. She reached out to Oregon Impact
within about a m onth of Maddi’s death.
“ I need to do so m eth in g,” said Carrie.
*1 need to get involved, because I was
devastated, my daughter was devastated. ’’
W ith Oregon Im pact, Carrie started the
cam paign cities o f A n gels, Long Live the
Legacy of Five, a driving safety program.
The campaign is promoted by a grey and
red softball shirt, a representation of Maddi,
who was a West Linn High School softball
star, who was number five on the team.
Not long after Maddi and Soyk’s deaths,
three more followed. West Linn High School
studen ts, Cooper H ill, 17, and A ntonio
Caballero, 16, were in the backseat of a Honda
Accord on I84 when the car in front o f them
came to a complete stop after missing the
turn to Dog Mountain Trailhead, forcing the
Accord to break. The Jeep behind them failed
to break, resulting in their deaths.
Oregon City High School student, Madison
W est, 18, was driving down Redland Road
when her Saturn veered to the left and into
a Hummer, killing her.
These deaths soon gave Maddi’ s number
five for the campaign a whole new meaning,
representing all five o f the teens killed.
“ Even one life,” said Carrie. “ Even if we
can get one person, one family that can keep
their child or their brother or their sister
or friend alive, G osh , I hope th en w e’ve
succeeded.”
Campaigns such as Angels, Oregon Impact
and more work to highlight the dangers of
reckless driving and to pay attention on the
road.
“ If you take your attention from the wheel
and come back, it’ s about 4.5 seconds to re­
engage,” said Lawrence. “ If you’re going 55
mph, that’s a football field that you’re really
not paying attention. *
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