Program Warns Against ‘Shattered Dreams’

Lexington, S.C. (WOLO) — Soon-to-be teenage drivers get an up close and personal look at what can happen when someone doesn’t buckle up, and officials say it’s a lesson in real life, outside the classroom. Caitlyn Martin believes in 2007, her late brother Byron, then 16, failing to put on a seat belt, cost the teen his life. A car he was driving at 75 miles per hour left the road in a sharp curve in Lexington and struck a tree. The high school athlete was ejected from the car. The belted passenger was treated at a hospital and released the same day. Caitlyn doesn’t want what happened to her brother to happen to anyone else. “I do believe everything happens for a reason and that him passing away not wearing a seat belt is helping lives here in Lexington. Caitlyn and Byron’s mangled Pontiac Soltice show up for eighth graders at Lexington Middle School each year for the presentation called Shattered Dreams. Hundreds gathered for the assembly Tuesday morning. The goal is to make them aware of the dangers of not buckling up and also distracted driving. According to the department of public safety, wearing a seat belt cuts your chances of dying in an accident by 50 percent. “As we send our kids out to high school, on the cusp of getting a driver’s license, we hope the message resonates with them and they’ll make some good choices once they start to drive,” said principal Ryan Pool. “I’ve had parents tell me it saved their child’s life and that’s well worth anything I could do,” said Byron’s father, Byron, Sr. Caitlyn says knowing young people do get the message makes sharing such a tragic story more bearable. “This is my way of giving back to help others.” She wants to take her message of saving lives from the streets of the Midlands all around the world through medical missions as a nurse. She says it;s a way to keep her brother’s memory alive.