TEEN DRIVING SAFETY!!

Time for a few FACTS

Have you heard about a teen who died in a car accident? Do you know someone who drives and uses their cell phone during the drive time? These are issues that the National FCCLA Program called FACTS deals with. The FCCLA national program Families Acting for Community and Traffic Safety (FACTS), deals with the issue of teen driver safety. I am a member of the National Organization for Youth Safety (NOYS) Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Leadership Team based out of Washington, D.C. As a part of this, I was granted the opportunity to spend some time at the Department of Transportation (DOT) in September. I then went on to attend the DOT's Distracted Driving Summit where I met Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. A few weeks later, I returned to D.C. to speak at a press conference for the Safe Teen And Novice Driver Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act. After the conference, I met with U.S. Senator Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota as well as a representative from Jim Oberstar's office and a representative from Tim Walz's office. Upon returning to my hometown, I was invited to speak about my work on distracted driving at a campaigning event for MN Senator LeRoy Stumpf and former MN Representative Bernie Lieder. In coalition with Teen Driver Safety Week, my FCCLA chapter did a FACTS project that consisted of a week of distracted driving related activities. I have a lot of plans to continue my efforts including an X the TXT pledge campaign, another trip to Washington, D.C. in January, hosting a local distracted driving summit, meeting with a representative from U.S. Senator Al Franken's office (maybe even Senator Franken himself?!) and meeting with a representative from U.S. Representative Collin Peterson's office. I also am now apart of the Teen Safety State Coalition being put together by the National Safety Council and The Allstate Foundation. I was just recently informed that the DOT has arranged for the NOYS team to tour the White House in January as well as job shadow a legislature at the DOT! So how can you get involved? There are many FACTS projects you and/or your chapter can put on including: Smarties and Dum Dums seat belt checks, your very own X the TXT pledge campaign, putting up signs and posters around your school, texting while driving golf cart simulations, morning announcements with shocking statistics, and many many more! Get creative! Don't hesitate to ask your advisor, local police department, teachers, parents, or even me to assist you with your ideas or taking action on them. Just think, more than 80,000 people have been killed in the past ten years due to a motor vehicle crash involving a teenage driver; that's enough to fill Target Field twice!

Kaylen –State FCCLA Vice President for Community Service