Car wreck survivor uses story to tell students why to W8 2 TXT

Hundreds of North Augusta High School students got some food for thought along with their lunch last week, with help from the South Carolina Highway Patrol, the Subway restaurant chain and a Greenville woman who had a brush with death.

Sharing her story was Greenville resident Ashley Marriah, who recalled a grisly I-385 traffic accident from June 26, 2011, when she was driving while trying to send a text message.

These days, the 21-year-old graduate of cosmetology school is back on her feet, with scarring and an enthusiasm for telling others not to repeat her nearly fatal mistake.

"I was going to pick my mom up at the airport," she said. "I was texting my mom to tell her I was going to be late. When I looked up, I saw a wall right beside me, on the left. I got scared. I thought I was going to hit it, so I overcorrected to the right, and there was a car right next to me, so then I swerved back to the left."

She struck the wall at about 70 miles an hour, and her SUV flipped "about six or seven times," Marriah recalled, noting that she was dragged halfway out of a window on the left, and her face was dragged across the pavement.

Referring to the importance of paying full attention while driving, she said, "I learned that the hard way."

Her personal web site (www.ashleymarriah.com) notes, "At the accident her skull was exposed and it took more than 40 stitches to close the wound. She proudly wears the scar and is now using her story to warn others of the dangers of texting and driving."

She presented the message with a backdrop of officers representing the North Augusta Department of Public Safety as well as the highway patrol, some of whom also stepped to the microphone to encourage students to think twice and avoid joining South Carolina's statistics of highway carnage.

As part of the presentation, students were encouraged to sign their names to a massive pledge card, indicating a promise not to send text messages while driving. Dozens of students accepted the invitation, along with free glow-in-the-dark wristbands bearing a reminder to "W8 2 TXT."

The high school is now in a competition with several other high schools around the state, and the school with the best pledge participation is to win a free Subway lunch - sandwiches for the whole school population. Details are at www.w82txtpledge.com and (864) 242-4665.