Safe driving initiative gives DHS shot at $100,000

Demopolis High School is participating in a program that will promote safe driving habits while also giving the school an opportunity to earn some serious prizes.

Celebrate My Drive, a safe driving campaign powered by State Farm, will give 10 schools a $100,000 grant, 90 schools $25,000 and two schools the opportunity to host a concert with Grammy Award winner Kelly Clarkson.

The program will launch Oct. 18 and run through Oct. 26, giving all those aged 14 and up the opportunity to log on at www.celebratemydrive.com and fill out a safe driving pledge in support of Demopolis High School.

“Celebrate My Drive is to help promote teenagers and adults to be safe behind the wheel,” Kelly Gandy, who is overseeing the program for DHS, said. “Our logo is 2N2. It means two hands on the wheel and two eyes on the road. As long as you’re doing that, you’re not flipping the radio. You’re not texting. The chances are increased that you would not have an accident.”

The initiative divides schools into two categories based on size with 750 students being the dividing line. At the end of the contest, one school in each category will win a Kelly Clarkson concert as well as a $100,000 grant. Eight other schools will win a $100,000 grant while 90 schools will win a $25,000 grant.

“During the time frame of Oct. 18 through Oct. 26, students as well as adults, can go to www.celebratemydrive.com . Once you go there, you’re going to indicate that you want to support Demopolis High School And then you’re going to commit that you’re going to be a safe driver,” Gandy said. “As long as you’re 14, you can go on and vote. We just need the community to go out and click there and vote for us.”

You can vote once a day, every day for the nine-day time frame.

The program comes as an alternate approach to the public health risks that are car crashes. For more than three decades, automobile accidents have been the No. 1 killer and leading cause of injury of American teens.

The program also works in conjunction with National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs from Oct. 20 to Oct. 26.

State Farm partnered with Harris Interactive for a survey of teen drivers in which 36 percent of respondents indicated they engage in text messaging while driving. Twelve percent admitted to browsing the Web while driving, 10 percent copped to social media usage and six percent said they read emails while behind the wheel.

For those students who own smart phones, those numbers increased dramatically across the board.

Demopolis High School will be working to promote the Celebrate My Drive campaign by asking adults and teens to vote and pledge during the nine-day stretch. Among the outlets the school intends to utilize are the school’s two home football games against Satsuma (Oct. 18) and Jackson (Oct. 26).

Schools representatives will have stations set up at the game where individuals can log on and vote in support of Demopolis High School.