A grieving mother says her son’s unfortunate decision to get behind the wheel under the influence of alcohol and marijuana has left her feeling like she is the one “doing time” more than a decade after the tragedy.
On December 8, 2012, Jordan Hayes McGuinness decided to drive back to his home on the Gold Coast after attending a Christmas party in Brisbane.
On the M1, the teenager was travelling at 30km/h over the limit when he crashed into the back of a vehicle which had broken down at the side of the road, sending it flying over the guardrail where it burst into flames.
Of the six people involved in the collision, only a 15-month-old baby survived.
Melissa McGuinness’s heart sank when police knocked on her door the next morning to tell her about her son’s death.
“My knees buckled and I thought I was about to throw up. I knew at that moment that I was about to be given the most awful news,” she said. 7news.com.au.
He said he found it difficult to understand what the police were telling him.
His 18-year-old son, Jordan, was like most teenagers: he loved sports and surfing, but he also enjoyed a close relationship with his parents.
Jordan (pictured) was 18 when he made the decision to drive under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He crashed into a parked car. He and four other people died in the collision.
Melissa McGuiness (right) will never get over the death of her son Jordan (second from right) and the fact that he killed four other people and orphaned a 15-month-old baby.
The teenager had recently moved house and the last time Ms McGuinness saw him she told him she loved him and to drive carefully.
Jordan always looked for his mother to give her a kiss before leaving the house and say “bye mom.”
Twelve years later, Ms McGuiness is still struggling to come to terms with the tragedy that tore so many families apart.
“As long as I live a righteous life, I will mourn my son. I will never, ever get over his loss or what he did to those young adults,” she said.
Ms McGuiness does not want sympathy but has asked young drivers to consider the impact and indirect effect their decisions have on other road users.
She still thinks about “those families every day” and the “misery” Jordan caused so many people, all because of one bad decision he made that night.
Ms McGuinness said that although her son committed the crime, she would serve a life sentence.
The 18-year-old crashed into a car on the side of a Gold Coast road (pictured)
Jordan was a “typical” teenager who was close to his family, including his little sister.
The mother is now speaking out about the impact Jordan’s decision has had on her life and this week travelled to Adelaide to speak at Street Smart High, a road safety awareness event for students organised by the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA).
She hopes that students attending the events will understand that not only their lives are at stake when driving, but the lives of all road users as well, and realize that accidents like Jordan’s are preventable.
Ms McGuinness also founded the non-profit organisation You Choose, which targets young Australians and encourages them to reflect and take responsibility.
According to a recent survey commissioned by the RAA, 69 per cent of drivers had participated in or witnessed reckless behaviour when they were aged between 16 and 21.
Some of the behaviors were driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, not wearing a seat belt or distracted driving.
Nearly half (48 percent) said peer pressure had led to reckless behavior.