It’s the phone call no parent ever wants to receive. On the night of October 26, 2019, Tammy McGee answered the phone only to hear her son’s girlfriend say there had been an accident.
“I knew when I hung up the phone that he was dead,” she says of her 16-year-old son, Joseph Conner Williams Guido.
Conner, a junior at Tabb High School in Yorktown, had gone to his school’s homecoming dance just hours earlier. Later that evening, he hopped into the front seat of the car of a fellow student who had just transferred to the school. Their destination was a party, just one mile away.
“The other student was unlicensed. His permit had been restricted. He was known to be a reckless driver, but no one spoke up. The school had given him a parking permit,” McGee says. “We didn’t have the ability to talk to Conner and warn him about this person.”
The young man, who was driving recklessly, ran off the road and flipped the car. All three teens in the car were killed.
“You can’t be prepared for navigating this water,” McGee says. “There is no rule book to tell you what to do when your son is killed.”
Advocacy Translates to Legislation for Tammy McGee
An accountant by trade, McGee, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) from the accident, has been thrust into public speaking and lobbying for bills to raise awareness and affect change with teenage drivers and their parents. To date, she has seen two bills passed by the Virginia General Assembly.
Conner’s Law, House Bill 1918, requires high schools to ensure that teenagers who want to drive to school and park in the school parking lot have a valid driver’s license, aimed to enhance safety and regulatory compliance among teenage drivers.
“This bill addresses the critical issue of unlicensed and potentially inexperienced drivers using school parking facilities, thereby reducing the risk of accidents and promoting responsible driving habits,” McGee says.
Conner’s second bill, Senate Bill 78, encourages parents to participate in a 90-minute parent/student driver education component as part of the classroom portion of its driver education for all public school divisions.
Grief-Fueled Advocacy Works to Keep Teens Safer on the Road
“This represents a significant step towards enhancing teenage driving safety through increased parental involvement. By educating parents and teens alike, the bill aims to foster safer driving habits, reduce accident rates and ultimately save lives,” McGee says, adding there are two additional bills in the works as well.
She is also a strong advocate for teen safe driving education in Virginia, visiting high schools around the state through the Gweedo Memorial Foundation. The foundation uses Conner’s nickname, Gweedo.
“Our mission is to educate new teenage drivers and their parents on the dangers of destructive driving decisions,” McGee says.
She additionally partners with a number of organizations that include VCU Project Impact, doing mock crashes and victim speeches at various high schools; the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, speaking at high schools about the Sharing the Road with Large Trucks program; and Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety, yovaso.org, for delivery of thousands of giveaway items to high school teenagers across the state with Conner’s websites and sharing his story at various high schools across the state.
McGee has also created the website IfYouSeeSomethingSaySomething.org to give teenagers an anonymous voice. Reckless driving, driving without a license, drugs, bullying or anything else can be reported without the fear of retaliation or being a “snitch.” Submissions are anonymous.
Award Honors Conner’s Life and McGee’s Commitment to Transportation Safety
On September 10, McGee received the 2024 Peter K. O’Rourke Special Achievement Award from the Governors Highway Safety Association (GHSA) for her efforts to prevent traffic crashes and make roads safer for everyone using them.
She is glad she can honor her son while helping others. “Conner had an amazing, fun-loving aura and easy going personality. He would try to make people smile and laugh. One of the things I miss the most is how he made me smile and laugh,” she says. “I am taking this tragedy and turning it into something positive to save other people’s lives.”
For more information, visit connergweedo.com.
