Teen Auto Safety Message By Teens For Teens
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With more than 36,000 teen drivers involved in car crashes in Florida last year – and a teen killed every 6.5 minutes nationwide, the state’s Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles has created an interactive web site to drive home the message of safety on the road.
With great graphics, bold music, and production techniques, TakeTheWheel.net was created by teens for teens. It’s a very powerful and effective way to communicate the facts about the responsibility of taking the wheel.
One video tells the story of Alexa who talks about her cousin Mandy, now in a vegetative state after an accident in December of 2004. She was in a car that was t-boned by another car driven by a student driver.
Alexa says, “she starts to cry and she has feelings she needs to get out but she can’t because of the way she is. Being in an accident and almost dying changes everybody life not just around them, but the whole school. People may not realize it but people have a lot of value. People take their life for granted.”
Frankie was 19-years-old when he left a party after drinking and tried to drive home, taking a turn and flipping the car 15 times. He died on the scene. His cousin tells the story of how he watched his cousin die, then tried to bury his grief with drunk driving until a relative made him face the reality of his self-destruction.
Megan hit the back of a truck with her vehicle and the car split in half with everyone ejected. Her boyfriend died. She drives a lot different today as she says through tears. "If someone is in the car with me I make them put their seatbelt on. Im really serious about it. “You’re not going to die while I’m driving.”
Kudos on talking to teens in a language that matters. I hope every young driver in Florida takes the time to listen to the experiences of people who have suffered from the loss of a loved one. It can happen to you just like it happened to them.