Without a scratch

Southern Sports & Travel

It was May 29, 2012 and Hannah Moore, like most residents of Washington Parish, was making the frequent and familiar drive from Bogalusa to Franklinton but on this particular day the 16 year old sophomore at Franklinton High school would soon make an error she will remember for the rest of her life.

After just finishing up her sophomore year and filled with the anticipation of summer vacation, Hannah was traveling on Highway 1072 to visit a friend when for an instant she looked down as she reached into her change purse and instantly felt her car edge onto the grassy shoulder of the highway.

Her immediate reaction was a common one. She over corrected which resulted in her traveling across the highway and striking an embankment.

“It was like everything was in slow motion when I over corrected but there was nothing I could do,” said Moore.

Moore’s vehicle flipped after impact and landed upside down with her inside.

“I remember when the car came to a stop after it flipped seeing my cell phone dangling from my charger in front of me. I called my mother to tell her I had been in an accident.”

Hannah’s mother, Shannon, was at home at the time and remembers vividly that call from her daughter.

“She told me she had just been in an accident but that she was okay and it was at that time I heard a man’s voice and Hannah saying to him that she thought she could crawl out the back window, that’s when I went into panic mode.”

Hannah’s mother immediately rushed to the scene worried sick as to what she would find upon arriving there.

“It seemed like it took me an eternity to get there and I was so worried what she would look like,” said Shannon Moore.

What she saw as she first came in view of the accident scene was a mangled car lying on its’ roof and an ambulance nearby.

“The walk from my van to that ambulance was the longest walk of my life and when I finally got to her and saw that she didn’t have a scratch on her I just broke down and starting crying.”

Hannah was on a stretcher and about to be loaded into the ambulance when her mother arrived but Shannon remembers clearly what one paramedic on the scene expressed to her.

“He told me if she hadn’t been wearing her seat belt she wouldn’t be very pretty.”

Hannah’s injuries included a small bump on her head and knee and after two hours in the emergency room she was on her way home.

There is no uncertainty with Hannah and her mother about just how fortunate she was and the fact that her seat belt minimized her injuries and re-enforced what Shannon’s parents demanded from her.

“When I was a teen my parents said no seat belt, no driving and I’ve passed that along to Hannah,” said Shannon Moore. “There are so many more distractions for teens these days than when I was a teen so it needs to be stressed even more now.”

While Hannah knew all too well that she avoided serious injury it really didn’t hit home until a few months later when someone she knew had a similar accident but without wearing a seat belt and died.

“Your chances of losing your life or getting seriously injured are so much greater if you don’t wear your seat belt. It only takes a few seconds to buckle up.”

Hannah expressed that there is no seat belt safety program at her school but after her accident she now speaks up when a friend doesn’t buckle up.

This is the final piece on seat belt safety and the realization that a great percentage of teens don’t buckle up is troubling.

I’ve emailed a few dozen schools asking if they offer or ever present any seat belt safety programs and the results were mixed.

A few did explain what they offer while some said they did not offer anything.

Two weeks ago I posted Adam Stafford’s story with the help of his mother Haley Dufour. On Monday I received a call from Haley who sounded excited but nervous. She had received a call from Manchester Academy headmaster Bryan Dendy who asked if she would travel to Yazoo City and address his student body. She gladly accepted because she understands the possibility that her message and her personal experience will hit home with students more effectively than some other methods that are used.

MAIS Executive Director David Derrick has graciously offered to aid in communicating with school administrators about this important issue.

Is the message getting across to students, parents and school officials? Only time will tell.