Teen Drivers Collide Head On With Reality
June 17, 2003 -- -- Just over a year ago, Ashley Biersach and four friends were racing back to Las Vegas High School after an off-campus lunch — a high-speed dash that ended in tragedy.
The unlicensed driver of the car was going too fast, and the vehicle slammed into a light pole, police said. Biersach, who was trapped in the back seat, survived.
"I couldn't feel anything but pain," the 17-year-old recalled. "I was bleeding. I was screaming. I couldn't stop screaming. And I looked around me and I just, I saw horror, I saw my best friend in the front seat dead."
The collision tore the car in half, killing one girl instantly. The driver died several days later. Biersach lost two good friends that day and the force of the crash crushed nearly every bone in her back, waist and legs. She spent close to three months in the hospital, where doctors had to amputate her right leg below the knee.
Before the accident, Biersach said she felt invincible. Afterward, she wasn't sure she could go on.
"I would cry and beg my mom, 'Please just let me die,' " she said. "'I don't want to live anymore.' But after a while, I kind of realized that I could do things for people. I could save lives and that made me want to live."
A Dream to Save Lives
Biersach now travels around the country with an organization called Driver's Edge, telling her story to other teens and finding a renewed sense of purpose. Biersach rolls up to the podium in a wheelchair.
"I had a dream once and when this car accident happened that dream was shattered," she told a group of students. "So my dream now is to save lives and help teenagers like you."
Professional race car driver Jeff Payne started Driver's Edge a year ago. The program has already taught 3,000 teens skills they can't possibly learn in a classroom. In addition to the reality tale from Biersach, the program actually puts teens on a racetrack and teaches them what it feels like to lose control of a car.
"Driver's education only teaches you the basic fundamentals of how to drive a vehicle," Payne said. "It doesn't prepare you for all the hazards you face in everyday life."
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