Randy Waddell was on his way to his Tazewell County farm when he got a phone call from his daughter, Ashley.   She was asking permission to ride to a friend’s home.   Randy said, “OK”, and hung up his cell phone at 7:01 p.m.  

He had no idea his daughter would be dead six minutes later.

“We should have never let her go,” says Waddell, “But we don’t try to talk about what if because we can’t change what happened.”

To mark the one-year anniversary of Ashley’s fatal car crash, Waddell will tell his daughter’s story and talk about safe driving to students at Fieldcrest High School in Minonk.   Waddell’s 1 p.m. appearance Thursday, Sept. 28 was arranged by COUNTRY Insurance & Financial Services Agent Jay Hurd of Minonk.

Ashley was riding in the back seat of her friend’s car last year when the driver lost control and struck a tree.   She and two other friends in the car were killed instantly.   According to the coroner, the crash could have been avoided.   Waddell said authorities told him the car was traveling 96 mph prior to impact.   The teenagers were hurrying to one of the teen’s homes to watch a TV show.

To help Waddell teach safe driving habits, Hurd will donate more than 300 copies of the COUNTRY Auto Skid software program to students in attendance.   Auto Skid features eight interactive lessons which teach users about stopping distances and show how distractions can impact drivers.