A month to the day after his son was killed in a car accident, Ken Ucci sat in his daughter’s room while she flipped through TV channels. When she stopped to answer her cell phone, Ucci heard a man on the television talk about a safe-driving program he’d started after his wife and daughter were killed in a Florida wreck.

“I think, at that moment, is when my healing began,” the 50-year-old Ucci said this week. “I saw that program, and I said, ‘This is it, for me.’ This is a way to make sense of that 8-second lapse that changed so many lives.”

Michael Ucci, 17, was killed on the cold evening of Jan. 27 when the car driven by his longtime friend, Bret Clifton, crashed into a traffic light-pole in front of West High School. Clifton lost both legs after the accident; the other two passengers, including Mike’s sister, Marie, were also injured.

Four months later, Ucci stood on the campus of his children’s school two days before graduation to sell T-shirts for $7 that say, “Get Real Behind the Wheel.” With him were Bret Clifton and his parents, Nancy and Steve, and a dozen friends of all ages.

Ucci has started a local chapter of Bruce Murakami’s safe-driving program, which teaches young drivers about responsible behavior behind the wheel of a car.

“Being able to participate helps us to heal,” Nancy Clifton said, motioning toward her son, who sat in a wheelchair, surrounded by kids. “Ken and Bret are going to do this together, to turn a negative into a positive.”

Tommy Pfeil, a junior, said he hopes he’ll be elected president of the club next fall.

“People will still speed, but we’re going to do events, like at the speedway, where, if they feel a need for that, they can do it. We’ll have car shows, too, so people will understand you can still enjoy cars without the recklessness. It’s going to be the greatest club ever.”

West High’s activities director, Kristi Thornton, helped organize vigils after the accident and took Ucci’s proposal for a “Get Real” club to the school’s staff for approval for next year.

“I think it’s a great cause,” Thornton said. “I really stand behind Mr. Ucci in his efforts. He’s truly driven to make a difference, and his heart and soul are deeply into this effort. It takes a strong individual to do something like this. As a parent, I can’t imagine what it’s like for him.”

Ucci doesn’t hesitate to say his grief has been agonizing.

“I lost my father last July and then my mother in October,” he said. “When Mike died in January, it brought me to my knees.”

He said his Italian-Catholic family has found solace in faith. After the accident, he found “God’s Little Instruction Book” on Mike’s bed stand, along with a book of daily quotations open at the page for Jan. 27, with a quote by racecar driver Michael Waltrip: “One night I asked the Lord to come into my life, and since that time, I have firmly believed that the Lord was … watching over me the day I crashed.”

Ucci said people seem surprised that he has no anger for the teen responsible for the accident that killed his son.

Marie Ucci (left) and Justin Baker (right), who were both injured in the Jan. 27 car crash that killed Marie’s brother, Mike, share a smile with Brie Cardoza during a shirt sale for the Get Real Behind the Wheel program after school Wednesday at West High School. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

“They ask me why I don’t think Bret should be punished, why he shouldn’t be removed from society. But, well, that’s not going to bring back Mike.”

The Cliftons said they’ve had one court appearance with their son, and the district attorney has handed down charges. Because he’s a juvenile, his case is not public record, and they said they’re not ready to talk about it.

Ucci said that he plans to speak on Bret’s behalf at his sentencing, which could be in the next month. Bret wasn’t racing that night, Ucci said, and no drugs or alcohol were involved in the crash — only speeding.

“I’m not going to condone speeding,” Ucci said, “but I’m going to try to do everything I can to convince the justice system to take a compassionate stance and make something positive out of this. I can only hope the community will respond the same way.”

It’s that sentiment that amazes families like the Cliftons.

“This has been heartbreaking, but they’ve been like saints,” Nancy Clifton said about Ucci and his wife, Jill. “They are like family — no, they are family.”

Bret Clifton, who lost both legs in a January car accident, helps to sell shirts during Wednesday’s event at West High. Glenn Moore/Tracy Press

The Cliftons and Uccis live directly across the street from each other on Egret Drive. The Uccis moved from San Jose to Tracy in 1992, when their children were just 3 and 1. The Cliftons were also new to the neighborhood, with 4-year-old Bret and his older sister, Ashley.

“Bret was one of Mike’s first playmates,” Ucci said. “I remember he was always doing something athletic — skateboarding off the curb, playing basketball. When the boys were older, they’d work out three times a week together. They were good kids.”

Now Ucci said he wishes he’d been more involved in the boys’ driving experiences and that he’d talked to them about the dangers of speeding and being distracted in the car.

Maybe now, he said, he’ll have a chance to do that, beginning with the message behind the T-shirts — Get Real.

To reach Cheri Matthews, call 830-4201 or e-mail cherim@tracypress.com.