Safe driving stressed to students

With the real-life tragedy of a car crash that killed four Tracy teens in mid-September, Millennium High School students heard a message Thursday that hit close to home.

“It’s scary: Right when you are learning how to drive, you are at the highest risk of getting in an accident,” Kelly Browning told the students in a morning assembly. She’s the California executive director of Impact Teen Drivers, an organization that endeavors to make teens aware of the risks of reckless and distracted driving.

Sophomore Jordan Northcutt said she’s starting to think about getting her driver’s permit, and the presentation was instructive.

“They gave good tips on how to drive,” she said.

The Sept. 18 crash near Schulte and Lammers roads left a recent Millennium graduate and three other Tracy teens dead. Investigators said the car was speeding when the driver lost control, ran up a dirt embankment and flipped over, landing in a nearby canal.

For more than an hour Thursday, folks from Impact Teen Drivers and the California Highway Patrol stressed the importance of safe driving to the charter school’s freshman and sophomore students by combining heartfelt talks, student participation and striking video presentations.

Teens, especially, are at risk of making fatal driving choices. Car crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for young people from ages 16 to 20, according to Impact Teen Drivers. About 25 percent of fatal teen crashes happen when alcohol and drugs are involved. The rest can be chalked up to recklessness, distractions and the inexperience of youth.

When Browning asked if anyone had ever lost someone they knew in a car accident, most of the students raised their hands.

“We’ve had kids going to teens’ funerals this year,” said Scott Snyder, a teacher at Millenium. “It was probably one of the worst experiences I’ve ever had.”

In his closing remarks, event partner Ken Ucci of Get Real Behind the Wheel recalled another teen driving fatality. His son Mike was killed in 2007 when a car he was in crashed in front of West High School.

“You and I have to make an effort to become more aware and look out for each other,” said Ucci, who added with tears in his eyes that his son would probably be attending University of the Pacific if he hadn’t died.

During lunch at the school, Ucci and Browning were out with the students, giving them a chance to enter a sweepstakes to win either $1,000 or enrollment in racecar driving school. Ucci also handed out safe driving contracts for teens and parents.

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