Teen Drivers Face Many Difficulties

My blog usually tells of people who have been involved in accidents, drivers who are drunk and inattentive and down right stupid when they get behind the wheel of a motor vehicle. The Purpose of my blog is to educate my client’s and readers as to the hazards that they face with people like this on the road. It is my distinct pleasure to tell you of some good news about three young people who are trying to make a difference and maybe save lives.

On it’s website Bridgestone Americas, Inc., the worldwide maker of automobile and truck tires, announced the Grand Prize winners of its third annual Safety Scholars video contest, a national competition that is part of the company’s overall youth auto safety education efforts. In the competition, Safety Scholars entrants, who are between 16 and 21 years old, created short videos about auto safety and, new for this year, how to be more environmentally conscious when using a vehicle. More than 800 videos were submitted and more than 12,000 votes were cast at www.safetyscholars.com to determine the grand-prize winners. This years 3 winners have each been awarded college scholarships, those videos can be seen on the Web site.

The website identifies the winners as;

Christopher Baugh, an 18-year-old from of Glen Allen, Va., created a humorous piece reminiscent of a typical hip-hop music video. Instead of boasting about flashy rims, hydraulics and nice cars, however, the rapper focuses on safety tips such as buckling seat belts and reading road signs. Baugh is an incoming freshman at Syracuse University.

Eric Dachman, an 18-year-old from Scottsdale, Ariz., and rising freshman at Arizona State, warns of texting while driving. His video shows the windshield of a moving car, and as the driver sends more and more texts, it becomes covered with them, impairing his driving ability. The video ends with the simple message: “Use a designated texter.”

Juliana Hinojosa, a 19-year-old from San Antonio, Texas, is a sophomore at Texas State University. Her emotional video is inspired by her 22-year-old brother Ryan, who was killed in an auto accident at the hands of a drunk driver. The video depicts various family members and friends who were impacted by Ryan’s death. Hinojosa summarizes her message to other drivers with, “Don’t drive drunk…you never know who you’ll wind up hurting.”

As an experienced Nashville car accident lawyer I suggest that you sit down with your teenagers and watch these videos together and then tell other parents.