A Utah mother’s plea as the 100 Deadliest Days begin
May 22, 2024, 4:00 PM | Updated: 4:52 pm
Chelsea Laycock speaks at an event at Sugar House Park in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, May 22, 2024. Laycock's son, Cody Laycock, was sentenced to prison after causing a fatal crash in American Fork. (Adam Small, KSL NewsRadio)
(Adam Small, KSL NewsRadio)
SALT LAKE CITY — As the 100 Deadliest Days driving safety campaign begins, the mother of a man now in prison for causing a deadly crash is begging others not to make the same mistake.
Chelsea Laycock’s son is Cody Laycock. He is serving time in the Central Utah Correctional Facility in Gunnison, Utah for causing a crash that killed two women in American Fork in 2021.
“It’s something that he lives with every day,” Chelsea Laycock said in Sugar House Park on Wednesday. “The images of the accident that day are something I will never forget, as long as I live.”
The accident was a head-on collision on American Fork’s Main Street. After an investigation, the Utah Highway Patrol reported that Laycock was driving nearly 60 miles per hour in a 30-mile-per-hour zone before the crash.
A promotional poster features an image of an accident that killed two people in American Fork in 2021. (Adam Small, KSL NewsRadio)
To this day, Chelsea Laycock said, it’s hard to drive on that road.
The 100 deadliest days
Traffic and safety officials say the 100 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day can be dangerous. They can be some of the most deadly days of the year for young drivers. And right now, ahead of this year’s summer driving season, Utah transportation officials say highway fatalities are trending down.
That trend can mean that fewer people will experience the consequences of dangerous driving. They are consequences, said Chelsea Laycock, that are inescapable.
“He (Cody Laycock) has often wondered why he is still here this day. Why it wasn’t him that was taken.”
At the time of the crash, Chelsea Laycock said Cody was 23 years old. He had a sales job and was engaged to his long-time partner. But everything changed after police said he lost control of his car and swerved into oncoming traffic.
“His future that he had planned for himself is different now,” Chelsea Laycock said on Wednesday. “The day of the accident, everything that we had planned for our son and his future, every future goal that he had, came to a screeching halt.”
Now, there is sorrow and remorse. She says her son wishes he could give his life to bring back the two women who died. But, since that’s not an option, they hope his story will inspire others to make better decisions behind the wheel.
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