Ex-cop Steven Gentle haunted by teen Danna Northey's death Steven Gentle is a former police officer who attended Danna Northey's fatal car crash in 2007. Pictured on his farm near Illabo in NSW with his dog, Tex. Picture: Brad Newman Source: The Sunday Telegraph STEVEN Gentle still clearly remembers the day he was called to the crash that claimed the life of teen Danna Northey six years ago, another senseless death due to text driving. The incident had a lasting impact on his life, changing his own driving habits. The former police officer was on duty at Culcairn, north of Albury in the state's south, when an emergency call came in from two farmers who had come across the horrific smash on June 20, 2007. Mr Gentle remembers seeing the unconscious 18-year-old student and the wreckage of her Pulsar sedan, its roof torn off. He realised instantly that she wouldn't pull through. The teenager died in hospital 12 days later. Mr Gentle found her mobile phone on the ground just outside the passenger door with an unfinished text message on its screen. A family photograph of Corowa woman Danna Northey who died texting while driving. He then discovered a series of texts sent during the drive to the friend, at university in Bathurst, she had been driving to see. "She was telling her where she was and things like, 'I can't wait to see you, we'll go out,"' Mr Gentle said. I rang her friend and spoke to her to get a statement. She was absolutely shattered. Coroner Brian Fenn later ruled Ms Northey had been typing a message on her phone at the time of the accident when her car veered to the left and she overcorrected. She lost control of the car and rolling into a drain off the Walla-Henty Rd. "She had done what many young, inexperienced drivers do," Mr Gentle said. She looked away, obviously texting, she looked back up and she was heading off the road. She swerved to get back on the road but overcorrected. Her injuries were pretty horrific. Mr Gentle left the police force three years later and now works on his cattle property at Illabo, near Wagga Wagga. He contacted The Sunday Telegraph after reading about our anti-texting campaign. Get behind our new campaign Police say there have been at least 20 cases of drivers who died in car crashes texting in the minutes before impact. Mr Gentle said Ms Northey's death scared him into changing his own habits. "I've done it (texted while driving) myself, but I don't do it now," Mr Gentle said. It's just not worth it. It changed my habits, but it's also in the back of your mind with your kids when they get licensed or start driving. His eldest son, who is 20, often drives from Bathurst to see him. "I always say to him, 'Make sure you don't use your phone and don't speed," he said. Ignore it or stop and get off the road to answer your phone, or just wait because you're a long time dead for the sake of a text message or answering your phone.