On August 2 in 2015, mother-of-three Audra Tatum was a passenger in the car her husband was driving. The couple’s 10-year-old daughter was in the back seat as they drove down a back road in the US state of Georgia.

Audra, 33, had crossed her right leg over her left, and was resting her foot on the car’s dashboard when a car unexpectedly pulled out in front of them and the cars collided.

While Audra's husband and daughter escaped the accident with scratches and bruises, the then 31-year-old was left with horrific injuries.

The passenger airbag had exploded, pushing her leg up into her face. Her nose, ankle, femur and shoulder were all broken by the force.

Audra was told by doctors that if she had been travelling with both feet firmly planted on the floor, there would have been "no issues" and she could have walked away from the accident with only minor injuries.

Two years on - with two screws each in her ankle, hip and knee - Audra is sharing her story to warn others about resting your feet on the dashboard of your car.

"All my life I had my legs crossed and my foot on the dash," Audra told CBS News.

"My husband would tell me, 'If we have a wreck it's going to break your leg'. I dismissed him."

After the accident, Audra said she was "looking at the bottom of my foot facing up to me".

"Basically my whole right side was broken, and it's simply because of my ignorance," she said.

"I keep telling everybody, you don't want this life.

"You don't want the pain and agony every day."

Audra said it took her over a month to be able to walk again after the accident. Two years on, she finds herself "in tears" if she has to stand for more than four hours.

"It took my career from me. It took so much from me in life," she told WTVC NewsChannel 9.

"I regret it every hour of every day," she said.

"Every time I put pressure on my leg I feel it...Do not sit like that. If you sit like that you're asking for it."

Audra has also started a GoFundMe campaign to raise money so she can further spread her safety message.

"Billboards, speaking at conventions, schools, anywhere that I can to help spread my story to hopefully save lives," she wrote.

"I can not do it alone. I need help to do it and make it happen. I have a full time job, but this is going to take a lot."

LISTEN: The news story that had the whole country asking, how young is too young to drive?