Jordan’s bad decision to get behind the wheel and drive home after a Christmas party cost him his life and killed four others. Twelve years on, his mum says she will never get over the loss
A grieving mother says her son’s fateful choice to drive while under the influence of alcohol and marijuana has left her feeling like she is the one “doing the punishment,” more than a decade after the tragedy.
On December 8, 2012, Jordan Hayes McGuinness decided to drive home to the Gold Coast after attending a Christmas party in Brisbane.
On the M1, the teenager was driving 30km/h over the speed limit when he collided with the back of a car stranded on the side of the motorway. The car ended up on the crash barrier and exploded in flames.
Of the six people involved in the collision, only a 15-month-old baby survived.
Melissa McGuinness got the shock of her life when police knocked on her door the next morning and told her that her son had died.
“My knees were shaking and I thought I was going to throw up. I knew at that moment I was going to get the most horrible news,” she told 7news.com.au.
The mother said she found it difficult to understand what the police were telling her.
Her 18-year-old son, like most teenagers, was into sports and surfing, and had a close bond with his parents.
Jordan (pictured) was 18 when he decided to start driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. He crashed into a parked car with occupants in 2012, killing himself and four other people
Melissa McGuiness (right) will never get over the death of her son Jordan (second from right) and the fact that he murdered other people
The teenager had left home and the last time Mrs McGuinness saw him, she told him she loved him and to drive carefully.
Before Jordan left home, he would always seek out his mother for a kiss and say, “Bye Mom.”
Twelve years later, Mrs. McGuiness still struggles with the tragedy that tore so many families apart.
“As long as I’m standing, I will mourn my son. I will never, ever get over the loss of him, nor will I get over what he did to those young adults,” she said.
Ms McGuiness does not want pity, but has urged young leaders to think about the impact and effect their choices have on others.
She still thinks about “those families” every day and the “misery” Jordan caused so many people, all because of one wrong choice he made that night.
Mrs McGuinness claimed that even though her son committed the crime, she would serve that sentence forever.
The 18-year-old collided with a car parked along the Gold Coast Highway with five occupants. Four of those people died when their vehicle burst into flames (pictured)
Jordan was a ‘typical’ teenager who was close to his family, including his little sister
The mother is now lecturing about the impact Jordan’s decision has had on her life and travelled to Adelaide this week to speak at Street Smart High, a road safety event for schoolchildren organised by the Royal Automobile Association of South Australia (RAA).
She hopes that students attending the events will realize that it is not just them, but all other road users who are in their cars and that accidents like Jordan’s can be prevented.
Ms McGuinness also founded the non-profit organisation You Choose, which focuses on Australian youth and encourages them to think and take responsibility.
A recent survey commissioned by the RAA found that 69 percent of drivers have engaged in or witnessed reckless behavior when they were between the ages of 16 and 21.
Some examples of such behavior include driving under the influence of alcohol, speeding, not wearing a seat belt, or distracted driving.
Nearly half (48 percent) said peer pressure led to the reckless behavior.