Teen fatal crashes leave behind local devastation
Hope is everywhere in Darlene Maley’s Jefferson home, reminders of the life once lived there and taken suddenly away.
Photos of Darlene’s late daughter Hope adorn Darlene’s walls, refrigerator and floor. Hope is on her mousepad, on her shelves and on her mind every day.
Hope was taken away from Darlene on March 13, 2007, just hours before she would have turned 17, when a car driven by then-18-year-old Britnee Moore crossed the center lane of Route 218 in Franklin Township, Greene County, and struck Hope’s 1994 Honda Civic head-on. Moore was using her cellphone when the crash occurred, police said, and Moore was convicted of homicide by vehicle in June 2009.
As time went on, it felt to Darlene like her life had stopped while others’ lives had kept going. Smudged pencil markings on the wall indicating Hope’s height as an 11-year-old remain on one of Darlene’s walls, and Darlene recalls wistfully that Hope, who was a Waynesburg Central High School student, never got to go to prom.
Now, though, Darlene’s faith in God and love for her son pulls her through.
“I thank God for every day I had with Hope,” Darlene says, with a Hope for Today Bible written by Joel and Victoria Osteen sitting on a table in her living room.
But area police officials said they are concerned about a greater number of distractions exacerbating teen drivers’ lack of experience and having the potential to shorten the number of days other local parents have with their children.
There have been 51 fatal crashes involving 16 to 19-year-old drivers resulting in 62 fatalities in the past five years in PennDOT District 12, according to PennDOT. Those 62 fatalities comprise a disproportionately high 13 percent of the 477 total vehicle crash fatalities in that time period in PennDOT District 12, which covers Fayette, Greene, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Distraction plays a role in nearly six out of 10 teen crashes, according to AAA, which also noted that the average number of deadly teen driver crashes climbs 15 percent between Memorial Day and Labor Day.
Moore was traveling in excess of 70 miles per hour at the time of the collision with Hope, based on analysis by state police Lt. Joseph D’Andrea, who was then a corporal and an accident reconstruction specialist.
D’Andrea easily recalls the names of Hope, Darlene and Moore 10 years later and remembers the names of most of those involved in fatal vehicle accidents that he helped reconstruct, dating back to the early 1990s.
“We’d much rather go out (on a call where) someone that wants to fight us then tell a parent their kid is dead,” D’Andrea said.
D’Andrea, 53, can also recall when cassettes and 8-track players were distracting drivers but said that distractions are plaguing young drivers worse now.
State police Trooper Robert Broadwater said that younger drivers run the risk of relying too heavily on vehicle technology designed to protect them, like center line sensors or blind spot detection.
“It takes the reaction out of driving,” Broadwater said.
PennDOT safety press officer Jay Ofsanik said that overconfidence has brimmed over in teen safety programs the agency has conducted at area schools, where some students have claimed they can safely text while driving.
“They’re convinced they’re very, very good at it,” Ofsanik said, adding that phones have become like part of teenagers’ arms since they’ve grown up with that technology. “(They say) ‘I’m really good at this, it doesn’t inhibit my driving at all.'”
A 2011 Connellsville Area Senior High School graduate, Catherine Healy — known to friends and family as Cat — was looking forward to starting her junior year at Penn State Behrend two years later.
But she died following a one-vehicle accident on Ridge Boulevard in Dunbar three weeks shy of what would have been her 20th birthday.
The crash occurred in June 2013 when the vehicle, driven by then-18-year-old Ethan Kenney, struck a guardrail and then a tree, spinning 180 degrees and coming to a stop in the road, according to police. Kenney suffered minor injuries, police said, having graduated from Connellsville Area two days earlier.
He was charged criminally in 2014, but prosecution of the matter stalled when a Fayette County judge barred testimony from an accident reconstruction expert because the vehicle involved in the crash was not made available to the defense by former prosecutors.
The state Superior Court upheld that ruling, and on Thursday, the state Supreme Court declined to hear any further appeal of the matter.
“Know who you’re getting in a car with,” Holly offered as advice for teen travelers, lamenting that so many teen drivers show they don’t care about the person next to them in their vehicle by how recklessly they drive.
Grace and dignity have been two of Holly’s biggest goals in life since Cat’s death. And to Holly, those values come with honoring Cat’s life.
“I have three other children I have to stay strong for,” Holly said.
Darlene Maley honors her daughter Hope by helping award an annual $1,000 scholarship in Hope’s name, administered by the Central Greene School District.
Hope wanted to be a fourth-grade teacher, and Darlene wants the scholarship fund to continue uplifting local students in Hope’s name.
Holly takes pride in Cat’s Court at Mountz Creek Park in Connellsville, a volleyball court area dedicated by the Connellsville Recreation Board in 2013 as a memorial to her daughter, who played volleyball at Connellsville and Penn State Behrend. Cat’s Court has hosted volleyball camps, and Holly has given away shirts with “Cat’s Court” emblazoned on them to raise driver safety awareness among local children.
“If they know the story of Cat, that’s all I can hope for,” Holly said.
The accident that claimed Cat Healy’s life took even more away from Holly than that. Her marriage fell apart following Cat’s death and her youngest child just got his driver’s license at 20, having been reticent to do so because of how his sister died.
Holly says Cat’s name every day, either in her head or out loud to herself.
“That’s how you’re not forgotten,” Holly said.
D’Andrea has his own memories for teen drivers to learn from.
“You’ll never forget the sound of a mother or father being told their son or daughter is not coming home,” D’Andrea said.