WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — An event in the Historic Triangle Tuesday night helped honor a teen who died in a crash in 2019 and taught other teens about the dangers of distracted driving. 

Mother who lost her son in crash wants to remind teens to stay safe

Information about LifeSafer’s Intelligence Speed Assistance device was featured at the Gweedo Memorial Foundation’s Fourth Annual Conner Gweedo Keeper’s Cup. 

President Michael Travars said the goal of being at the event Tuesday was to bring awareness about the ISA device so parents and teenagers could see it as a possible training aid. He explained that it uses GPS and speed limit data to operate.  

“You can accelerate up to the speed limit, and once you hit the speed limit, it simply stops your ability to further accelerate,” Travars said. “It doesn’t operate with the braking system. It doesn’t reduce the speed of the vehicle. What it does is it stops you from getting to that danger speed in the first place.”

It was one of many safe driving efforts featured, aiming to educate the hundreds of teens across Hampton Roads that were brought in by the soccer games.  

“They want to come, they want to play, and then we get them to our distracted driving area where we can talk to them about the real life dangers of driving, something that each of us have to deal with every day as we drive up and down the roads,” said Tammy Gweedo McGee, executive director of the Gweedo Memorial Foundation. 

McGee’s 16-year-old son, Conner, was killed in a crash in Yorktown in 2019. 

She started the Gweedo Memorial Foundation, plus she has the soccer tournament and distracted driving outreach event every year in his honor.  

“Even though he’s not here anymore, he’s still with us, and he’s still giving back and helping to save even in his death,” Gweedo McGee said.  

The tournament also featured a 17-year-old NASCAR driver who wants to promote safe driving habits among his fellow teens.  

“Need for speed, leave it at the racetrack or leave it on the soccer field,” said Atley Wiese, a NASCAR Weekly Series and CARS Touring Series teen driver. “It’s not the time and place for speeding when you’re out there on the roads.”

Gweedo McGee also advocated for the “super-speeder” law last year. It goes into effect in July. 

That’s when Virginia will become the first state to allow judges to order an ISA device to be put in the cars of drivers convicted of extreme speeding.