The trauma distracted driving can leave behind has been laid bare in an emotional tribute to 17-year-old Ruby-Jean Steele.
The teenager was driving home on November 8, 2018, when she became distracted and she lost her life on the road.
Ruby-Jean's friends and family shared her story in a video with the New Zealand Police in hopes they can save a life.
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"Nobody thinks it can happen to them, but it can happen to you," Ruby-Jean's mother, Kirsten, said in the social media video.
Kirsten was at work when she heard of a fatality that has occurred on the main Waiuku Road, in south Auckland.
"I remember saying... some poor family is going to have a s**t Friday today," she said.
"Not much longer after that, I saw my eldest boy come up the stairs with the police. I walked out to them and I said 'please don't tell me it's Ruby-Jean.'"
Ruby-Jean's friends, Majenta and Latesha, also revealed their heartache in the emotional video.
"Everybody gets in a car and thinks... I'm not that person," Majenta said.
"If people see how it affects people when you drive unsafely...I honestly think that's the only way that people are going to sort themselves out."
Latesha hopes Ruby-Jean would be proud of her and her classmates, who based a piece for Stage Challenge on Ruby-Jean's accident.
"I hope that you knew we did that piece for you. That we spend five years working together throughout Stage Challenge and we finally bought home first for you," she said.
Kirsten hopes Ruby-Jean's fatal accident will serve as a warning to others to stay focused on the roads.
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"I would say to her I was sorry it had to be her life that ended… to hopefully choose people a huge lesson. Nothing will bring her back," she said.
Latesha also believes the girl's award-winning Stage Challenge performance, which features in the video, will change Kiwi's attitudes.
"We hope that you're proud that your story is going to change other people's lives," Latesha said.
Police say if Kiwis don't want to listen to them about the dangers of distracted driving, they will listen to the story of Ruby-Jean and her family.
"Let's honour Ruby-Jean's memory, stay focused on the road, and cut out the distracted driving," a police spokesperson says in the video.
Auckland police are on high alert for distracted drivers this month, as they put emphasis on focusing on the road ahead to get home to your loved ones alive.
Police Inspector Scott Webb talked to The AM Show about the twelve fatal crashes that were caused by cellphones within the last year.
"Any fatal is one is one too many," Webb said.
Newshub.
