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Clinton Co. mother uses daughter's crashed car to raise awareness of texting while driving dangers

Posted at 8:12 PM, Mar 28, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-29 03:48:49-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- A Clinton County mother who lost her daughter in a texting-and-driving accident is using her pain to help push for stricter driving laws in the state.

Jill Biddle’s daughter, Maria, would have turned 18 next month and was preparing to enter her senior year of high school – but instead of celebrating that milestone with her daughter, Jill is using her tragedy as an example to others of why it's never worth it to text and drive. 

“She was going to see a friend, and we had a 4-H meeting that night, chores that had to be done,” said Biddle. “So I said, ‘be back in about an hour and a half.’”

Maria was on her way home last June when she started to send her mother a text message. When she looked up from her phone, there was a car stopped in front of her.

“Two to five seconds is all it took. That quick,” said Biddle. “Four words she had typed, looked up, and she was gone.”

Biddle said Maria swerved to avoid the car but instead hit a pick-up truck head-on. She died at the scene.

“She hit a husband and a wife, he had a broken back,” said Biddle. “Their life changed. Our lives have changed.”

Biddle kept her daughter’s smashed vehicle. She now takes it to festivals and high schools to show other teens the dangers of texting and driving.

“I just kept getting that vibe that ‘momma, we need to do something,’” said Biddle.

Her message: A decision to text and drive puts the lives of everyone on the road at risk.

“I hope that people think about that, so they don’t have to go through what we’ve gone through,” said Biddle.

It’s already illegal to text while driving in Indiana.

A bill that would require all drivers to use hands-free technology failed this session, but the sponsor has pledged to bring it up again next year.

“She was my only daughter,” said Biddle. “We looked a lot alike; our personalities clashed because we were a lot alike. Everybody remembered her smile.”

Biddle said she uses her daughter’s car to bring awareness to the dangers of texting and driving. She wants to prevent another family from experiencing the same heartbreak.

“I just wish I could tell her one more time how much I love her,” said Biddle.