Selfie crash death: Woman dies in head-on collision seconds after uploading pictures of herself and ‘HAPPY’ status to Facebook
Police said Courtney Sanford’s friends came forward after they realised her status updates coincided with the time of the crash
A woman has died in a head-on collision on a US highway just seconds after she posted selfies and updated her status on Facebook, police have said.
At 8.33am on Thursday a post appeared on 32-year-old Courtney Sanford’s Facebook timeline which read: “The happy song makes me so HAPPY.” At 8.34am police were called to reports of a crash.
Officers said Ms Sanford was alone in her car when it crossed the central reservation, crashed into a recycling truck and burst into flames, forcing the other vehicle off the road.
She was on her way to work along Interstate 85 in North Carolina at the time, and police said they found no evidence that drink, drugs or speed were factors in the collision.
The link to Facebook only emerged this weekend after friends of Ms Sanford came forward to tell police that a number of her posts online appeared to come from a similar time to the incident itself.
High Point Police Department spokesperson Lt Chris Weisner told the WGHP TV station that the crash was a real-life public service advert “showing what happens when you text and drive”.
Lt Weisner said that as well as the status update seconds before the crash, evidence from Ms Sanford’s social media profiles showed she had also been taking pictures of herself while on the highway.
“In a matter of seconds, a life was over just so she could notify some friends that she was happy. It’s really not worth it,” he said.
“As sad as it is, it is also a grim reminder for everyone… you just have to pay attention while you are in the car.”
Police said that the truck was being driven by 73-year-old John Wallace Thompson, who walked away unharmed.
Comments
Share your thoughts and debate the big issues
Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
-
Newest first
-
Oldest first
-
Most liked
{{/moreThanOne}}Please be respectful when making a comment and adhere to our Community Guidelines.
You can find our Community Guidelines in full here.
-
Newest first
-
Oldest first
-
Most liked
{{/moreThanOne_p}}Follow comments
Vote
Report Comment
Subscribe to Independent Premium to debate the big issues
Want to discuss real-world problems, be involved in the most engaging discussions and hear from the journalists? Start your Independent Premium subscription today.
Already registered? Log inReport Comment
Delete Comment
About The Independent commenting
Independent Premium Comments can be posted by members of our membership scheme, Independent Premium. It allows our most engaged readers to debate the big issues, share their own experiences, discuss real-world solutions, and more. Our journalists will try to respond by joining the threads when they can to create a true meeting of independent Premium. The most insightful comments on all subjects will be published daily in dedicated articles. You can also choose to be emailed when someone replies to your comment.
The existing Open Comments threads will continue to exist for those who do not subscribe to Independent Premium. Due to the sheer scale of this comment community, we are not able to give each post the same level of attention, but we have preserved this area in the interests of open debate. Please continue to respect all commenters and create constructive debates.