The coldest season of the year comes with fun and thrills to teenagers. Winter season means fun and staying happy as snow flakes gather around the roofs and windows. It’s going to be a white Christmas soon! In spite of the excitement brought by winter season, are you aware that this time of the year is the deadliest season for teen drivers? Yes, it’s sad but true...Although studies revealed this tragic fact, there are ways on how teens can prevent or lessen the numbers of teen fatalities caused the number 1 killer of teens… car crashes! This winter holiday season, teenagers from all over the country will gather up together to “sing a different kind of tune” as their own way on how to help lessen the numbers of teen deaths in car crashes.
Keep the Drive - that is the statement of the campaign! It is a teen-headed smart driving movement sponsored by The Allstate Foundation. The campaign encourages teens to take part in the "Holiday Holla," a competition that tests teens to rewrite and carry out conventional holiday carols with the latest, captivating lyrics about smart driving. The movement aims to increase awareness among teens about teen deaths related with car crashes in the first online "carol-aoke" contest of its kind. Participants will also have the chance to win $15,000 and meet and perform their song in front of platinum-selling country artist Taylor Swift.
"This contest is a fun and creative way to make teens and their parents aware of how dangerous the holiday season is for teen drivers," said Swift, who will help select the final winners during an event at the Mall of America on Dec. 8, 2007. "Holiday Holla combines humor, music and witty-but-meaningful lyrics as a unique and effective way to encourage teens to step into the driver's seat and positively influence their peers."
"This is a serious issue that affects all teens. Keep the Drive has created a cool way to help teens like me become activists and do my part in reducing the number of preventable car crashes this holiday season. I'm hoping teens all over the country will enter and spread the word about smart driving and maybe win some great prizes," said Jessica Mann, 17, a National Keep the Drive Crew member.
According to TheAutoChanel.com, the Allstate Foundation conducted a national survey of teen driving attitudes and behaviors. 47 percent of teens said their friends are a big influence on how they drive as revealed in the survey. Major results included:
- Fifty-six percent of teens make and answer phone calls while driving.
- Thirteen percent write and/or read text messages while driving (with 12.5 million teen drivers in the U.S., that's 1.72 million teens writing/reading text messages while driving).
- More than 50 percent of teens believe that drinking and driving is the leading cause of crashes. In reality, less than 25 percent of teen car crashes are caused by drunk driving.