Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) has launched a campaign with the slogan "Speak Up." The goal is for kids to tell reckless drivers to slow down and pay attention.
SADD and several national partners have launched the "UR the Spokesperson Campaign" to counter the rising death toll. The group cites statistics that show car crashes as the number one cause of death among teens and young adults. On average, more than 300,000 are injured behind the wheel, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
An ad for the campaign states: "In the real world there is no spokesperson to prevent reckless driving. There's only you. Speak up."
Andrew Karasik, youth spokesman for SADD, said kids can influence their peers to drive safely.
"Students need to understand that they can speak up," he said. "Their friends and those they are riding with will listen."
Priscilla Natkins, executive vice president of the Ad Council, which partnered with SADD on the project, said teens are more likely to listen to peers than parents.
"Advertising that is constructed in a peer-to-peer fashion has proven to be very successful," she told Family News in Focus.
Daniel Vocelle, SADD National Student of the Year, said the simple act of speaking up will hopefully save some lives.
"Our mission is to show other young people that we have the power to influence our friends and help them make the best choices,” he said. “That’s why this campaign really means something to me – it’s all about friends speaking up.”
FOR MORE INFORMATION:
To learn more about the campaign, visit its Web site.
(NOTE: Referral to Web sites not produced by Focus on the Family is for informational purposes only and does not necessarily constitute an endorsement of the sites' content.)
