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Woman Creates Texting And Driving Coalition After Serious Accident

By Matt Kroschel

EAGLE, Colo. (CBS4) - Pushing against the pedals on her exercise machine signals a victory with every rotation for Robye Nothnagel.

This journey began in February 2017 when she was hit by a car while walking in a crosswalk in Frisco, Texas. She was visiting the area for a daughters sporting event.

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(credit: Robye Nothnagel)

"The percentage of people they get hit by a car as a pedestrian and survive is low. I was lucky in a sense the type of car she had didn't kill me," Nothnagel says.

She was in the ICU for nearly a week and hospitals and rehab centers for weeks after that.

"The journey has been long... A lot of physical therapy," she added. "I started in a wheelchair, then a walker, but now I'm walking."

The teen driver who hit her admitted she was texting on her cellphone.

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(credit: Robye Nothnagel)

"I felt compelled as a survivor to do something to try to bring awareness of how dangerous the epidemic has become," Nothnagel said.

According to AAA in Colorado, about half of drivers they surveyed last year admitted to holding a cell phone while driving.

"People don't think it's a problem I didn't think it was a problem everyone thinks they can multitask the science behind it says we can't," Nothnagel said.

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Robye Nothnagel speaks with CBS4's Matt Kroschel.(credit: CBS)

Now a survivor taking her message to her neighbors in true Together 4 Colorado style.

She created "Colorado Drive Safe," a coalition with the mission to create awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.

"My goal is to keep working until people change their behavior," she said.

A horrible year Robyn hopes no one else ever has to go through.

To contact Nothnagel, email codrivesafe@gmail.com or visit the group's Facebook page at "Colorado Drive Safe."

Matt Kroschel covers news throughout Colorado working from the CBS4 Mountain Newsroom. Send story ideas to mrkroschel@cbs.com and connect with him on Twitter @Matt_Kroschel.

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