Anoka High teens hope to steer peers right

Armed with creativity and gumption, a group of Anoka High School students is taking a message of teen driving safety on the road.

The school's chapter of Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) has embarked on an ambitious campaign to clue in students and parents alike on the new teen driving regulations passed by the Legislature last year. Students marched in Anoka's Halloween Parade weekend; last week group members took their program to Dassel-Cokato High School. They've spoken to city councils in Anoka and Forest Lake, and there are plans to work with safety officials in Coon Rapids and Maple Grove.

In the summer of 2007, the group's co-president Natalie Hayford attended the national SADD conference in New Orleans. She was appalled to learn that Minnesota leads the nation in teen-driving deaths.

"That's what got us focused on the teen driving," said Natalie, a junior who lives in Andover. "We would like to eliminate the number of teen deaths and injuries due to car crashes. It's kind of a bad reputation on Minnesota to have the leading amount, and hopefully these new laws will help to eliminate that because they'll get more experience with fewer distractions."

Natalie worked on a series of public service announcements and student TV segments last spring, including enlisting Gophers basketball coach Tubby Smith for an appearance. For that work, she won a $500 grant with the title Teen Activist of the Year from the Allstate Foundation. This fall group members are using the money to print "Smarties Don't Break the Law" cards, along with a banner and yard signs that they lend out to cities they visit.

As finalists in the National Organizations for Youth Safety's Rural Youth Traffic Safety Competitions, the students also received $500 in seed money that could turn into $5,000 for their cause if they beat out nine other finalist schools. The students just finished that campaign; the results will be released next week.

And last week, the group learned that they'd been awarded a $1,000 Project Ignition grant from the National Youth Leadership Council.

• 12 to 5 Unsafe to Drive: Stay out of the driver's seat from midnight to 5 a.m. for the first six months of licensure, except for work- or school-related trips.

• Get the 411 on the 1:1:6: Obey a limit of one passenger younger than 20 for the first six months as a driver, with exceptions for family members, or when accompanied by a licensed driver 25 or older.

• Dude Jst Drv: Refrain from use of phones or text-message devices in a running vehicle.

• Chillin' With Your Seatbelt: Always wear one.

Students know the laws, Natalie said, but sometimes struggle with peer pressure to be flippant about safety. The "taglines" might make it easier to talk about safety.

At Anoka's Halloween Parade, about 15 students walked, along with the obligatory smashed car. They handed out 1,000 Smartie cards, and 5,000 Mothers Against Drunk Driving red ribbons.

The day took on unexpected urgency when a couple introduced themselves as the parents of Danielle Pound, the young woman who had been driving the car when she was killed in a single-vehicle crash last spring.

"It was a real shocker," Natalie said. "We were all just speechless."

The group made a presentation last month for classmates in Jerry Sobieck's traffic safety education class at Anoka High School. Sobieck said he'll use any opportunity to harness positive peer pressure to spread the safety message.

"When you hear it from someone in your own peer group or age group it's better understood," he said. "When you have somebody your own age, even if it's the same message, they'll be listening more intently. It actually carries more weight."