Mother opens up about the devastating moment she was told her daughter was the first person in Victoria to die from texting and driving
- Brooke Richardson died in December 2012 after her car crashed into a tree
- The 20-year-old had been texting and had dropped her phone in the process
- Her mother Vicki has opened up about the moment she was told Brooke died
- Ms Richardson has campaigned to warn about dangers of texting and driving
The mother of a 20-year-old who died while she was texting and driving has relived the moment she was told her daughter was killed.
Brooke Richardson was driving to work near the Victoria and New South Wales border on December 4, 2012, when she texted a client to confirm their hairdressing appointment.
The hairdresser dropped her phone and when she went to pick it up she slammed into a tree and was killed instantly.
Brooke Richardson was driving to work near the Victoria and New South Wales border on December 4, 2012, when she texted a client to confirm their hairdressing appointment
The hairdresser dropped her phone and when she went to pick it up she slammed into a tree and was killed instantly
Her mother, Vicki, has recalled the moment she got a phone call from Brooke’s manager about a car crash
Brooke was the first person in Victoria where a coroner formally identified the cause of death to be texting and driving.
Her mother, Vicki, has recalled the moment she got a phone call from Brooke’s manager about a car crash.
‘I got a phone call from her boss just before 9am and he said, “Brooke hasn’t turned up for work and I’ve heard there is an accident down the road and from what I’ve been told it’s a car similar to hers”,’ she told Yahoo News Australia.
Ms Richardson said she knew instantly her daughter had died and rushed home to get more answers.
‘It’s weird but mother’s instinct, I just had this gut feeling that it was her,’ she said.
Brooke’s father Mark – a police officer – eventually confirmed Brooke had died.
Ms Richardson said she knew instantly her daughter had died and rushed home to get more answers
Ms Richardson started the Don’t-txt-n-drive foundation to help spread the message of what happened to Brooke
Ms Richardson said she was distraught and needed to be restrained when she found out.
‘The sound my body made that day, I don’t even know if I could ever make it again,’ she said.
Ms Richardson said she didn’t want anyone else to go through what she had so she launched the Don’t-txt-n-drive foundation a week later.
She said she did it because it was in Brooke’s nature to be kind and help people.
Ms Richardson said she was distraught and needed to be restrained when she found out what had happened to Brooke
Ms Richardson said at the time of her daughter’s death there was ‘no warning’ about texting while driving.
Her foundation has set up billboards and put the message out on radio stations.
She also holds fundraising days and speaks at schools and sports clubs around the country.
The group was also instrumental in creating Brooke’s Law in Victoria, which banned P-platers from touching their phones while driving.
Ms Richardson said it isn’t easy to speak about what happened to Brooke but the message is getting through and that makes it worth it.