Students making video on driving

Staff

Published Thursday, March 29, 2007

By Sarah Kirchner, staff writer

The Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety challenged the state’s high schoolers, and students in Max Jeffrey’s TV classes at Albert Lea High School stepped up to the plate.

The OTS 2007 Look Out, Teens! challenge seeks to create a 30-second commercial aimed toward teens to emphasize the importance of staying safe and focused when driving. Traffic crashes

are the leading cause of teen deaths in Minnesota.

“It’s not only as a safety issue, but we have a lot of creative students who could make something

that might win,” Jeffrey said.

Jeffrey incorporated this challenge into the syllabus for his Video B and Tiger Vision classes, and will continue the project with his TV class next term. Groups of three or four students worked together to make the commercials and all focused on seat belt use. This is the first year ALHS students have been involved in the contest, and they hope to win.

“I think we have a pretty good chance,” said Taylor Samudio, a junior in Jeffrey’s Video B class.

“We had fun doing it.”

From 2001 to 2005, drivers 15 to 19 had 369 deaths from vehicle accidents, and less than one-third were wearing seat belts. In the same four years, distracted driving was a factor in 25 percent of teen crashes while it was only a factor in 16 percent of all other age groups, according to the OTS.

Teens only made up 7.5 percent of licensed drivers from 2001 to 2005, but were 15 percent of drivers involved in a crash. Traffic accidents are the No. 1 killer of 15- to 17-year-olds, causing 206 deaths from 2001 to 2005, according to the OTS. That is as many deaths from suicide, accidents, cancer and homicide — the next four leading causes of teen deaths — combined.

“I’m hoping it will make them (teens) buckle up and drive safer,” said senior Bryant Olchefske, also in Jeffrey’s Video B class. “I have family out there, and I don’t want them getting in a wreck.”

Each commercial must focus on the importance of paying attention while driving and the dangers of teens getting distracted behind the wheel. Submissions are due April 23 to the Office of Traffic Safety.

Teresa Kauffmann, public information coordinator for the city of Albert Lea, has seen some of the seat belt ads and said she was impressed.

“They get you right in the heart,” she said.

Olchefske said he saw some really good commercials done by his classmates.

“It presented a level of maturity that you don’t usually see in this field,” he said.

Submissions will be judged by traffic safety officials and the top three will be posted on the OTS Web site, to be judged by the public May 7 through May 20.

The winning commercial will be revealed online. Prizes for first place include $1,000 and the commercial will be aired on TV. Second place wins $600 and third place gets $400. All prizes were

donated by AAA Minnesota/Iowa. This is the third year OTS has had this contest.

The ads completed by ALHS students haven’t been released at the high school yet, so Jeffrey’s second-semester students can come in with fresh ideas. They will be released after they have been submitted, he said.

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