Teen Awareness Responsibility Training

There is an ART to doing anything well...that includes driving.

OUR TRAINING PROGRAM

TEEN AWARENESS

TEEN RESPONSIBILITY

TEEN TRAINING

PARENT ART PROGRAM INTRO

FOR SCHOOLS, YOUTH GROUPS & CIVIC ORGANIZATIONS

HOMEPAGE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So, you have the keys to the car…freedom, no more asking your parents for a ride or taking the dreaded school bus. You can even offer your friends a ride; how cool is that? How good of a driver are you? You must be good…you passed the driving test, they didn't even make you parallel park. You’re responsible; you know what you’re doing. Plus, it won’t happen to you…right? Well, it’s going to happen to about 17 teens today, what makes you think one of them won’t be you?

You have plans and a busy day ahead of you. You have school, sports, homework, and maybe you'll hang with a few friends later. Let’s hope you get to do all of that. You might not get it all done. You might not be alive to finish the day and make it into your bed tonight. But, it won’t happen to you...

“You may not know her but the world needs to learn.  People say ‘oh, it won’t happen to me’. I know, I said it just today. Well it did. It happened to her, the cool girl with lots of friends, the one who was famous in gymnastics, the one who had it all, until. Today we grieve for the loss of this special person…people need to remember who she was…it happened to her which means it can happen to us.  In loving memory of Ashley, you'll always remain in our hearts."

                            (Student at LBSS/2003)

Ashley never thought it would happen to her; neither did her friends, teachers, nor parents.  Why? Because she was “responsible”, “grounded”, “capable”, “mature”, and “smart”; All words used to describe Ashley by those who knew her well. But it did happen. She left the house that morning happy and smiling…her usual bubbly self. Her Mom forcing a bagel and juice into her book bag…she did not like to eat early in the morning, she would say that her stomach was not ready for food till 10:00 a.m. “I love you” was exchanged and she was off for another busy day. But, she did not get to finish the day…by 2:00 p.m. she was dead; trapped in a vehicle that was not hers.

June 10th, 2003, was a beautiful sunny day. Ash (as her friends called her) was on a road she knew well only blocks from her home. She had borrowed a friend’s car…something she had never done before. For some reason Ash crossed over two lanes and hit the median, she overcorrected putting the car into a skid. She hit a tree and died instantly from massive head and chest trauma. She was a new driver but a good one…until something went wrong. Something she did not have the skills to handle. Inexperience, the leading cause of teen fatalities; it was the cause of Ashley’s fatal crash. 

" Ashley, I never knew this could be so hard...I'd do anything just to hear you laugh one more time. You had the best laugh, not to mention the greatest smile I've ever seen. We all miss you so much...you will never be forgotten. I love you with all my heart and more."

                            (Student at LBSS/2003)

 

 

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