Keep the Drive

Tools

By Katie Ussin

Story Published: Jan 30, 2009 at 6:50 PM MST

Story Updated: Jan 30, 2009 at 5:54 PM MST

BILLINGS - Fourteen pairs of shoes hung in front of Bridger High School Friday. They represented the number of teens who die a day due to distracted driving.
"All right here are the facts; 56-percent of teens make and answer cell phone calls while driving," said Heidi Mudd to a crowd of more than 100 students.
Bridger High School students Heidi Mudd and Bailee Vaughn are working to keep their peers from becoming a statistic.
The two are part of a national campaign called Keep the Drive sponsored by the Allstate Foundation that gives peer-to-peer advice about safe driving.
"A couple of times we've been in the car driving back from a volleyball game, or a movie, and our friends pull out the phone to call their parents and we're like, 'Hey, no, you can't do that!' So, now they know and they'll pull over or let us call them," said Vaughn.
Friday, the girls gave a presentation to the high school students from Bridger, Fromberg and Belfry.
"It means a lot to me to know that maybe we could be saving a life in our own school," said Mudd.
After the assembly, the students came to a distracted driving course set up by the local police to demonstrate the big impact a little device can have on your driving.
While behind the wheel, the students were asked to use a cell phone to text the sentence: fourteen teens die a day
John Combs said he got the message.
"Pull over if you're going to eat or text or talk to friends or something," said Combs.
As the students left for the day, they signed a pledge, along with thousands of teens across the country, to drive safe this year.
"I just hope we never have an empty chair at graduation," said Vaughn. "If we don't have an empty chair I'll be happy."

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