Students at Manteca High’s College Prep Club are promoting safe driving via positive messaging and interactive events throughout the month.
They’re part of the Teen Safe Driving Campaign sponsored by the Safety Center and the Allstate Foundation.
“Our slogan is ‘Stay Alive – Don’t Text and Drive,” said club advisor Nina Norton.
Starting this week through April 7, the College Prep Club will be providing daily announcements at the school on ‘Distracted Driving and Safe Driving,” she added.
As for the local club’s slogan, Norton indicated that her students will be using March 28 as Twitter Day. They’re looking as this form of social media to get the word out, with the goal of re-tweeting “Stay Alive – Don’t Text and Drive” at least 1,000 times.
The group is also planning a ‘White Out’ game at Winter Gym, scheduling the April 3 MHS boys volleyball match to further promote safe driving.
Distracted driving is the cause for 18 percent of teen crashes, according to the Safe Center.
Norton mentioned that most of those distractions are young drivers being on their cell phones while behind the wheel, texting or talking.
Drowsy driving is another cause.
“This is a problem in the morning as well as at night,” she said. “Our kids will be taking finals (in mid-March) so they’ll need to get a good night sleep.”
Her students are scheduled to be at Sequoia Elementary School on Thursday, March 16, handing out bookmarks to elementary school students while promoting the cause to parents by waving safe-driving signs during this afterschool event.
In addition, the MHS College Prep Club students were recognized at the MUSD school board meeting (March 7) and Manteca City Council meeting (March 21) with proclamations for the Safe Driving Campaign.
The Teen Safe Driving Campaign was created as a positive teen-to-teen driving effort, reinforcing safe decisions and reducing distracted driving on young motorists.
For more information, call Norton at 209.858.7340.