AUSTIN – To launch its annual Click It or Ticket campaign and drive home that failure to wear a seat belt cost nearly 1,000 Texans their lives last year, the Texas Department of Transportation is unveiling “Kailee’s Crash,” a jarring sculpture that captures a car in mid-air just prior to impact in which a young woman lost her life.
Sixteen-year-old Kailee Mills of Spring removed her seat belt for just a moment to take a “selfie” photo with a friend in the back seat. In that moment, the driver lost control of the vehicle and Kailee was thrown to her death. Her friends, who were buckled up, sustained only minor injuries.
David and Wendy Mills, Kailee’s parents, are traveling the state with the reenactment sculpture to urge Texans to buckle up. “We are sharing Kailee’s story in hopes that we can convince drivers and passengers of all ages to always wear their seat belts. We don’t want any other family to go through the pain and grief of losing a loved one like we have,” said David, who lives in Spring, Texas. “Kailee always wore her seat belt, but she unbuckled it for just a few seconds to take a selfie with friends, and in an instant she was gone.”
