KAWARTHA LAKES- Linda “Pinky” Brown landed on her back on the pavement and when she looked up she saw the words “God is Good.” “It gets better, the first two people who came to help me were named Michael and David.” Brown told Kawartha 411. “I am not religious by any means but it made me think.”
It was a nice sunny September day in 2015 and Brown was out for a ride on her pink Harley. As she rounded the bend on Lakefield Road, just north of Giant Tiger near Peterborough she was hit by an SUV. “As I was curving to the left I saw tires coming over the white line and I was hit by the SUV.” Brown recalls. “My leg was crushed between the SUV and the bike and my bike continued straight into a wooden box and landed in front of the church.” The Church with the words “God is Good” on the roof.
Brown’s achilles tendon was severed, the bones in her leg and foot were broken and crushed. She was taken to PRHC and later rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto where she had a number of surgeries including plates in her foot and a steel rod from her knee to her ankle. They thought they were going to have to amputate her leg.
The person who hit Brown was charged with Distracted Driving. Little consolation though as she soon found out the person who hit her had NINE previous convictions for things such as Distracted Driving x 2, Careless Driving, Disobeying a Red Light, Speeding, No Drivers Licence and Driving without glasses or corrective lenses. The last conviction for Distracted Driving was just three weeks before Brown was hit. “That’s when and why I started the campaign.” Brown tells Kawartha 411.
The Don’t Drive Distracted -I Pinky Swear Campaign aims to provide awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. “This needs to be stopped. I don’t want anybody else going through what I have to go through.”
The “I Pinky Swear” campaign has caught the attention of celebs such as Rick Mercer who took the pledge to “I Pinky Swear” and not drive distracted. “They could kill somebody and they would have to live with that for the rest of their life.” Brown says. Brown became the first person to ride a motorcycle onto Parliament Hill to draw attention to the campaign. “I was really lucky to have MP Jamie Schmale” Brown says he helped organize the ride.
Driver distraction is a factor in about 4 million motor vehicle crashes in North America each year according to the RCMP. The National Safety Council says about 26% of all car crashes involve phone use, including hands-free phone use and 80% of collisions and 65% of near crashes have some form of driver inattention as contributing factors. (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2010)
The crash changed every aspect of Brown’s life. “It’s changed what physically I can do, what mentally I can handle and just every day abilities. Being able to pick up your child and play with them, take them to Ken Reid Conservation Area and go for hikes, do the things I did with every one of my children.” She has three kids aged 21, 18 and 9.
The nickname “Pinky” came from her love of the colour pink. At one point she even had a pink ninja motorcycle and a pink Harley so the name of the campaign is fitting. Brown travels to schools and community groups talking about the dangers of distracted driving. It’s become her passion and life’s work. “Losing your self identity, your job becomes who you are, I am a social worker, this is what I love to do, the people I worked with were amazing but I can’t do that anymore.” says Brown. “This campaign means the world to me now because it’s maintaining my self identity.”
Going back to laying on the pavement that day and the words “God is Great”, Brown thinks maybe this is her higher purpose. In 2019 she is planning on a cross Canada tour. “June 1st next year we are going to be riding to every Harley Davidson dealer across Canada. We are doing it so we can meet people face to face, share their stories, talk to them and just have people understand what the dangers of distracted driving really are.”
She also wants stiffer penalties for those convicted of distracted driving. “I don’t know if the courts feel that its a waste of taxpayers money to put these people in jail but it costs more money to keep people in the hospital and maintain them for the rest of their life because of injuries caused by a distracted driver.”
On top of all this the individual who hit Brown was uninsured. “They showed an insurance slip but this person was an exempted driver from the policy. So these insurance companies really need to lift exempted drivers on their insurance slips”
You can “Pinky Swear” not to drive distracted, take a photo and post it on the groups Facebook page. Go to :https://www.facebook.com/sweartosave/
The “I Pinky Swear” Tour is looking for sponsors. Royal LePage-Frank Real Estate Agent Shannon Graham has become the sponsor for their accommodations. They are looking for two more sponsors for fuel (about $5000)and for their media team. Sponsors will be promoted through the tour and on the social media campaign which is receiving world wide attention. Contact Brown on Facebook if you want more information on sponsorship.
“It makes me proud but I couldn’t do it without the group of friends that I have.” Brown says.
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