GREENFIELD — Inside the family garage where Todd Albertson and his daughter Ashlea Albertson used to tinker with race cars and hang out, Todd has an old Firebird he’s turned into a dedication car for his daughter.
“I had that car and I blew up the motor, and Ashlea, she always joked with me about getting that car out and going for a ride in it,” Todd said.
August 18, 2023 was the worst day of Todd Albertson’s life. It’s the day his daughter, Ashlea, 24, a local race car driver, was killed in a road rage car crash in Jackson County.
Ashlea inspired thousands of young people and other drivers with her positive outlook and kind manner, her father said. He is now trying to turn the tragic loss of his daughter into an opportunity to help humans treat each other better by showing more respect on the roads and in general.
Todd started doing speaking engagements about safe driving, road rage prevention and the importance of wearing seat belts. Todd recently spoke at Old National Road Driving Institute, and this past weekend Ashlea Albertson Racing and Kelsey Jo Dossey hosted the 2nd Annual Ashlea Albertson Memorial at Circle City Raceway in Marion County where Todd also spoke about his daughter’s tragic death.
“It’s all about taking a tragedy and turning it into something positive and to try to give something back to the community,” Todd said. “We’ve gotten to the point in this world where socially it’s easier to pinpoint a group we want to bond with, and it’s one way or the other and there is no in between where people treat each right like neighbors, and I want to try and change that.”
Todd wants people to remember that every single person on earth has something going on in their lives that they are dealing with and to keep that in mind when they get behind the wheel of a car.
“We need to make sure our issues don’t overweight someone else’s issues,” Todd said. “It’s so much easier for us all to come together because we share so much, community, church, the roads, and we need to do better and remember no one’s situation is greater than another.”
Todd noted it’s better to take time to check on one another than lose one’s cool in a situation that can quickly become life or death.
“Getting out and speaking to the youth is what I want to do,” Todd said. “I want younger drivers to understand that there are people out there struggling and when a situation comes together it makes the right potion for things to terribly go wrong, like in Ashlea’s situation.”
A deadly combination of factors, Todd said, is what came together on the day Ashlea lost her life.
Ashlea was killed in a car crash on I-65 in Seymour in August 2023. Officials say the car she was in, driven by her fiancé Jacob Kelly, 31, and another vehicle driven by Austin Cooper, 22, were involved in an incident prior to the crash. Police say video footage recorded by another vehicle shows the two drivers accelerating rapidly and refusing to let one another pass.
The post-crash investigation determined the vehicles were traveling next to each other when both drivers accelerated to speeds in excess of 90 miles per hour at the time of the crash. Toxicology results were obtained on both drivers with results of those tests indicating Cooper had THC in his system when the crash occurred.
As a result, Cooper was charged with Causing Death when Operating a Motor Vehicle with a Controlled Substance, a Level 4 felony, and Reckless Homicide, a Level 5 felony. Kelly was charged with Reckless Homicide, a Level 5 felony. Cooper’s case ended in a plea agreement while court records show Kelly’s case had a plea agreement filed Oct. 16.
Todd noted there were only two ways he could go following his daughter’s death — get bitter and demand justice or try to do something positive and understand why the accident happened and keep it from happening to others again.
“Bitterness only brings on more bitterness,” Todd said. “That’s the part that is hard for other people to understand. I don’t want to see either of the drivers in the crash go to prison, and that’s just as simple as I can make it.”
Todd said incarceration would only harden and ruin more lives, and that’s not something he wants to be a part of.
“They’ll have more of an issue when they’re released, and I think we need to find a better way of supporting each other,” Todd said. “Accountability becomes revenge and revenge only stokes more hatred, and that’s why the crash happened, there was anger and hatred and it didn’t show any respect or love for one another, and we’ve got to do better as a group.”
Todd is hoping to spread the word and book some speaking opportunities at schools and for adults to help share the message of respect and seat belt safety on the roads.
“I have a PowerPoint presentation and I tell our story,” Todd said. “But, I emphasize on who Ashlea was and how it all came together and what happened to her.”
Todd said he’ll never forget the day and shortly after Ashlea’s death when law enforcement kept talking to him about accountability because in his mind he kept thinking about Ashlea’s portion of that.
“If accountability is really what we’re looking for, Ashlea accounted for both boys and she held herself accountable because she didn’t have on her seat belt,” Todd said. “That was so ironic because she didn’t have on her seat belt. There was too much speed, no respect and she didn’t have on her seat belt.”
Todd noted he wants people to walk away from his speech not thinking about himself or his family but his daughter.
“I want them to know her and what her life was about and the impact she can now leave behind,” Todd said.
