18–year–old Samantha Loy died after drinking, driving and dangerously texting.

Now the teen's family is speaking out about her short life, underage drinking, and the hard lessons they hope everyone takes away from this tragedy.

11 News Reporter Tim Ciesco has more.

"It's changed my life forever. I've lost somebody that was so special to me, says Sam’s mother, Susan Giffin.

Susan says it's something that will eat at her heart for the rest of her life, dealing with the tragic loss of her 18-year-old daughter Samantha.

"I'll never get over it, because that was my baby girl," she says.

She and her husband Tim Larsen say they remember Samantha as a smart, outgoing girl who loved life, and was involved in everything from sports to jobs to beauty pageants.

"Everybody that ran into her just fell in love with her. She had that personality,” Tim says.

But mostly they remember her as a girl whose bright future was cut tragically short.

"Tim and I both think that alcohol is the worst drug out there on the streets today,” Susan says.

On February 9, Loy was ejected from her car as it flipped over on I–70 near mile marker 23.

Colorado State Troopers say she wasn't wearing a seatbelt, was texting, and had a BAC of .195, more than twice the legal limit.

Giffin says she never imagined this is how she'd lose her daughter.

"She knew drinking and driving was not a good idea. She'd heard it all her life,” she says.

But Susan thinks that all changed when Samantha went to college, where she and her husband believe drinking is glamorized to the extreme.

"College is a place to educated, not trashed, but it seems like a lot of them are doing it,’ she says.

Now, they want every college student to think of the pain their family is going through as they make decisions about alcohol.

"If that's all this has accomplished, for one kid not to go out there and drink and drive, it will help,” they say.

With the recent rash of fatal crashes that involved underage drinkers, Susan has some choice words for the adults who give them the alcohol in the first place.

“The guys buying alcohol for the kids should be prosecuted just as bad as the guys that are driving those cars,” she says.

Giffen says she and her family have been overwhelmed by the number of the people who tell them Samantha touched their lives.

And even though she's gone, they hope her story will continue to reach people for years to come.

"To have an impact like that on people definitely is going to do something for those who are going the wrong direction,” she says.

For 11 Cares, Tim Ciesco.