Woman posts about Pharrell’s ‘Happy’ on Facebook seconds before dying in crash

Posted 8:01 pm, April 26, 2014, by , Updated at 08:03PM, April 26, 2014
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HIGH POINT, N.C.  – A North Carolina woman killed in a head-on collision while driving on Interstate 85 Thursday posted to Facebook moments before crashing, according to a report on MyFox8.com.

“The Facebook text happened at 8:33. We got the call on the wreck at 8:34,” High Point Police Lt. Chris Weisner said. The post, according to investigators, was about the song “Happy.”

“The Happy Song makes me so HAPPY,” police said the post exclaimed.

A screenshot of Sanford’s Facebook post (with her photo removed).

A screenshot of Sanford’s Facebook post (with her photo removed).

“In a matter of seconds, a life was over just so she could notify some friends that she was happy,” Weisner said. ““As sad as it is, it is a grim reminder for everyone… you just have to pay attention while you are in the car.”

The driver identified as 32-year-old Courtney Ann Sanford.

Investigators said Sanford was also posting selfies as she drove.

The driver of the truck involved in the crash was not injured.

23 comments

  • S. Tay

    Praying for her family and friends! A grim reminder of what not to do while driving… RIP Courtney Ann Sandford :(

  • The Don

    Tragic. ..and not so happy now! Taking selfies etc on s road that’s 60 or 65 mph…lesson learned yet ? Condolences to friends and family.

  • Lil

    People (especially young ones- think “it won’t happen to me” -but it can (and IF drivers continue to use cell phones while driving)-it will –when will they learn? It’s too late for this young lady -condolences to her Family.

    • Billy Bob Merkowitz

      Are you Effing Kidding me? She was mashing the same damned buttons to update her Facebook status, that she would be mashing to send a text. Regardless of whether she was updating her happy facemash status, or hurling a text message informing a single recipient of her euphoric reaction to a moronic tune, the woman is resultantly quite dead, and a very lucky truck driver has been traumatized by her selfish actions.

    • Paul Wright

      Hey Orean are you an idiot or what? POSTING TO FACEBOOK IS NOT TEXTING? Its basicly the same thing IT DISTRACTS YOUR ATTENTION FROM CONCENTRATING ONTHE ROAD.

  • Kathy Tortorelli

    Are you kidding me????? It doesn’t matter if “posting” isn’t “texting”!!!!! YOUR EYES STILL ARE NOT ON THE ROAD!!!!!! Condolences to her family, but thank god she didn’t kill anyone else!!

  • Eric brown

    Until insurance companies get on board and suspending drivers policies and classifying destructed driving under SR-22 (DUI), no one with take this seriously! Hurt them where it counts by taking away their driving privileges and taking money out of their pockets. My insurance company has started canceling policies when drivers have been ticketed for texting.

  • Candace Rose Reddy

    “posting on facebook isn’t texting”

    So typing a message on your phone, and posting it to facebook WHILE driving, is different from typing a message to someones cell phone, while driving how exactly?

  • Cal

    Some of your comments are so insensitive. Think about her family members reading this! If you dont have condolences then shut the fuck up and be thankful it wasn’t your own. Stop watching so much tv!

    • Shadowspawn

      Yes, it’s sad that she’s dead…but *she* brought it on herself. SHE was the one that decided to post on FB instead of driving and SHE was the one that paid the price. If she had killed someone else while doing that, you’d agree that she deserves whatever comes…but not when she’s the one that died?

      I feel for her family (as do others here, it seems), but I don’t have to condone her actions…nor do I feel sorry for her.

    • Yo-Yo

      No it didn’t have to happen. If she hadn’t been playing on her phone she might still be alive today!!
      People do the dumbest while driving. I’ve seen people doing everything from texting, make up, writing, even reading the newspaper while driving. It’s stupid and it’s not worth your life. Pay attention to the road & drive!!

  • akismet-9eb91569d8ecb251b259e393da6d0cc6

    I drive a lot of highway miles each week and I see this kind of thing probably ten times a day: a car ahead of me repeatedly crossing lane lines while the driver has her head down looking at her phone. Yes, “her”. In probably 80% of the times I see this it’s a young-ish female doing this. It’s really starting to infuriate me when I see this. They are endangering themselves and innocent drivers on the road. PLEASE PUT THE PHONE DOWN AND DRIVE.

    All due respect to this woman’s family, but maybe this will raise the awareness of this problem and possibly save some innocent person’s life.

  • Bobby

    My condolences to her family! With all the technology why can’t the auto industry have devices installed in vehicles that block cell signals while the vehicle is running. It would operate just like a GPS system it will not operate while the vehicle is moving.

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