Tiana Tozer is from Portland Oregon, so you may ask what is she doing here in the North-West region of BC?
Well, Tozer is an active speaker for the ICBC and was invited to the province to share her tragic story as a young adult to local schools here in the North-West.
Tozer’s road safety passion stems from one thing, personal experience.
“When I was 20 years old, I was involved in a very significant incident. When enrolled at the University of Oregon, I was in a vehicle accident that saw me suffer severe injuries due to a drunk driver. I spent 1 month in ICU, followed by 3 months of hospital care, and then my next 4 years in a wheelchair learning to walk again.”
37 reconstructive surgeries later, she is here in good spirits advocating with school children to make a difference on the road.
“If I can change the life of one student by telling my story I’ve done my job. My intention is not to scare these kids but to educate them on what can happen if we aren’t aware of the dangers around us.”
Tozer says the most difficult part of her travels through the region are getting the attention of everyone in the room.
“It’s not just the kids you lose the attention of, it’s adults as well and it’s ironic because roads are something we all use on a daily basis. You can either learn the easy way or hard way. The sad part about this whole thing is I’ve been speaking on this topic for 30 years and it seems like we as humans continue making the same mistakes.”
Tozer will continue her two-week journey spreading her message tomorrow at the Bulkley Valley Christian School and Houston Secondary.
For more information on the cause you can click here.