Frisco mom partners with TxDOT to highlight the dangers of impaired driving

Sue and Carly Beatty were best friends, in the way only mothers and daughters could be. 

The two shared coffee every morning. Even when Carly moved away from her family’s Frisco home to attend Texas A&M University to pursue her dream of becoming a veterinarian, she would still FaceTime her mom. They both had July birthdays, and the mother-daughter duo would frequently have joint celebrations. 

Sometimes, they would look across the room at each other at family functions and know exactly what the other was thinking. Sue referred to Carly as her bright light, her sunshine girl and baby, the youngest of her three children.

Sue describes making the hardest decision of her life almost seven years ago, holding Carly in her hospital room, as the staff took the 19-year-old off life support. 

Carly died on Sept. 21, 2019, at a hospital in Houston, where she was airlifted after she was hit by an impaired driver. She suffered several life-threatening injuries, including internal bleeding, a pelvic fracture, head trauma and severe lacerations. Despite doctors’ best efforts, her mother said, there was no way she would ever recover from the accident. 

“Grief is a life sentence,” Sue said. “It is something that will never go away.”

Beatty has turned her grief into action. Partnering with the Texas Department of Transportation for the agency’s summer “Drive Sober. No Regrets” campaign, she aims to keep Carly’s memory alive.

Years after the accident, Sue hopes to talk about Carly’s life – and death – as a lesson on the fatal consequences of impaired driving. 

Sue has spent several years sharing her daughter’s story with schools across North Texas, support groups such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving, and transportation organizations, with one goal in mind: saving lives.

On the day of the accident, the mother of one of Carly’s roommates called Sue to tell her that her daughter had been hit by an SUV. Sue immediately became worried for her daughter’s friends, assuming they had all been driving in Carly’s car. 

“She told me, ‘You don’t really understand, Sue, they weren’t driving, they were walking,’” Sue recalled through tears. “When she said that to me, I just stood there in shock. I couldn’t really comprehend what that meant.”

According to data gathered by The Dallas Morning News’ research team, Carly was one of three alcohol-involved crash fatalities in Brazos County, where Texas A&M is located, in 2019. The impaired driver had a combination of alcohol, THC, cocaine and Xanax in his system. He was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2022, and will be up for parole in March. Sue plans on attending the hearing and arguing against granting him parole. 

Collin, Dallas, Denton and Tarrant counties had almost 2,000 impaired driving deaths between 2019 and 2024, according to public data. 

According to TxDOT, 1,254 people died on Texas roads last year because of impaired driving. That’s three people killed per day.

Sue’s awareness campaign focuses on the lesser-known aspects of the public safety threat: Impaired driving no longer means just alcohol. It also can include common household items such as prescription drugs or cold medicine. 

“I tell people that before I die, I would love it if there was just one day where there were no deaths from impaired driving,” Sue said. 

TxDOT’s statewide sober driving campaign launches several times a year and aligns with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s efforts to encourage heightened law enforcement presence on major motorways.

“Every impaired driving crash starts with a choice,” Sue said. “The choice to drive impaired, and get behind the wheel.” 

Sue hopes her daughter’s story can serve as a reminder to drivers across the state that getting behind the wheel is a responsibility – and could cost lives.

“It’s not worth the risk,” Sue said. “Every time you get behind the wheel impaired, you’re gambling with someone’s life, whether it’s yours or someone else’s. Don’t take that risk.”

Staff researcher Rachel Friend contributed to this report.