Educating students on the dangers of reckless driving

Lake Park, Minn. (WDAY TV) - The Minnesota State Patrol has a new tool in its arsenal against reckless teen-driving. A DVD that is hard hitting and graphic, but high school students are getting the message. This warning, some of the pictures are disturbing.

The students at Lake Park Audubon High School today got the driver's education lesson of their lives and it didn't come from a book.

“It's not worth it. Don't take the chance you never know never know what happens and you could make it home 1000 times but that one time could change your life forever.”

The Minnesota State Patrol is now using a new DVD in its safety education. Except this one is not about just statistics, the students are hearing from and learning about the victims, those who survived.

“I just broke down when I saw the car. It changed our lives.”

And those who did not.

“They didn't make it home.”

“It hit me when I got home and I got home and my sister's room was empty.”

The pictures are from accidents involving fellow teens in our own back yard, graphic photos at times, accompanied by heart wrenching interviews.

“What we are trying to do is tell them they are making the decision. They make it.”

In Lake Park-Audubon, the students were gripped.

“Eye opening instead of hitting us with stats and facts all the time.”

“In class you get the facts and learn the hard stuff, but when it comes down to who is in danger and think about who is in the car. Something eye opening really does help.”

The DVD is just a tool, but troopers hope the next time the students hop in a car, decisions they make will be good ones that not only save their lives, but those around them. It was actually a student organization at Lake Park Audubon that brought the State Patrol to the school. FCCLA is a community and leadership group of teen-agers active nation wide.

Tags: reporter stories, kevin wallevand, lake park, k-12 education, audubon, news, transportation