18 February, 2014 12:18PM AEDT

Deadly crashes leave legacy of grief

It's been a tragic week on the Hunter's roads with six people killed in only five days, including three in a head-on crash at Jerrys Plains over the weekend.

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The three men who died included two brothers, and a woman remains in a serious condition in hospital.

The deaths of the brothers struck a chord with local woman Michelle Davis, who lost her own two sons in a car accident in 2005.

Michelle has fully experienced the anguish these fatal crashes leave behind, but she's also created a positive legacy with a road-safety program called Roadwhyz.

She told Jill Emberson from 1233 ABC Newcastle Mornings how it affects her when she hears about the latest spate of road accidents. (listen to attached audio)

"Very sad and worried, and particularly for the one up in the valley where two of those that lost their lives were brothers," Michelle says, adding that she can't help thinking about what those men's parents are going through.

"In the early days you manage on autopilot pretty much," she says.

"Most people expect you to get up and get moving and I did the very best I could for as long as I could.

"After a while the fog just lifts and you realise that you do have to keep going.

"I mean, I have a daughter as well and a supportive husband, and I worked and people were relying on me."

But she says there's no set time for recovering from such a tragedy.

"It takes as long as it takes," Michelle says, explaining that it was three years after her sons' deaths before she could even go out to dinner.

"I'm just starting to get into a really good space now, and it will be nine years this year.

"I think about them every day, they're always in my mind every day and I know that they're watching."

It's Michelle's belief that her sons are aware of everything she does that has prompted her to set up the Roadwhyz project.

It's a four-hour in-school education program on road safety involving police, ambulance officers and driving instructors as well as Michelle's personal story.

"It's not a bunch of adults standing up pointing at them, telling the young drivers they're doing the wrong thing," she says.

"It's just about giving them as much knowledge, information and empowering them as much as we can."

During the session Michelle describes what's happened to her since the knock on the door notifying her of her sons' deaths.

"I take them through every step I can remember and ask them to imagine their own mother," she says.

"My boys lost their life on a beautiful, bright sunny Thursday.

"There was no rain, there was no bad weather, it was a gorgeous day.

"It was speed, it was a choice."

The latest initiative from Roadwhyz is raising sponsorship to pay for professional driving lessons for students who can't afford them.

You can find more information at the Roadwhyz website.