1 year later, mom's message: Drive slower
TEEN DRIVING
Beth Warren - Staff
Sunday, January 14, 2001

A lone, grief-stricken mother mounted a very personal campaign against teen driving deaths Saturday along a busy Gwinnett County roadside.

High school teacher Sue Vaughn, whose 18-year-old daughter, Tiffany, was killed in a wreck exactly one year ago, vowed to spend 18 hours at the crash scene, urging teens to buckle up and slow down.

She began at 5:20 a.m. --- the time of the fatal collision --- parking her teal Toyota pickup in the grass beside the six-lane Pleasant Hill Road, just past Cruse Road.

Balloons in shades of purple, Tiffany's favorite color, mark the spot where the Jeep Wagoneer left the roadway. The teen's friend, Amanda Moore Teer, 18, of Grayson, had been speeding in a 45 mph zone when she lost control in a curve, causing the Wagoneer to flip several times, Gwinnett County police Lt. R.D. Dewitt said.

The vigil comes at a time when reckless teen driving has captured the attention of Georgia lawmakers, prompting proposed driving restrictions on young motorists. That includes a call to raise the driving age to 17 in four metro counties.

Tiffany wasn't wearing her seat belt and was thrown from the vehicle. Her mother, a Roswell High School Spanish teacher, had gone to the crash site, collecting leaves that caught drops of her daughter's blood. Amanda was charged in November with second-degree vehicular homicide, according to the arrest warrant. On Saturday, some motorists beeped their horns in support as they drove by the memorial, complete with a large portrait of Tiffany.

Some parents slowed down, allowing their teens to glance over at the sign the mother clutched.

It pleads: "DEAR TEEN, PLEASE SLOW DOWN & USE SEAT BELTS. OUR BELOVED TIFFANY WAS KILLED JANUARY 13, 2000."

"I think we're at epidemic proportions now," the mother said, referring to a recent spate of serious and fatal wrecks involving metro Atlanta teens. "There's no telling what contributions they could have made.

"For this to turn around, it won't be from the legislation --- although that is good. It is all laid at the doorsteps of the teens themselves.

"They will have to say to each other: 'Slow down,' or 'I'm not going to ride with him. He's an unsafe driver.' "

Tiffany, who loved to socialize and dance, had once abused drugs and alcohol, but had straightened up and joined a support group, her mother said.

Her diploma from her GED courses came in the mail two days after her burial.

Other mothers who have lost children stopped by to offer support.

"I was just really touched by this," said Patti Marino, whose 14-year-old daughter died nearly three years ago after an illness. She handed Vaughn a purple rose and hugged her as cars sped by.

"I think teenagers have to get scared and have to see the loss is personal, to not want their mom standing out here," Marino said.