Operation Awareness was a massive success! The project was possible because of the smart teen-driving grant from DoSomething.org and the Allstate Foundation’s Keep the Drive program. The goal of the projects done with these grants was to enable teens to initiate activities that raise awareness to peers about the dangers of reckless, careless, and distracted teen driving. I was a member of the Keep the Drive National Crew this year. This crew of 46 teens from around the nation works throughout the year to drive a national teen-led movement against the #1 killer of teens: car crashes.
With the DoSomething.org grant, I was able to produce 85 “Keep the Drive” t-shirts. I worked with several students and a company representative to design a shirt with a bold, simple, and powerful message: “#1 Killer of Teens: Car Crashes.”

In order to prepare for my project, I also acquired 50 “Keep the Drive” nalgene water bottles and three hundred “Keep the Drive” bumper stickers from the Keep the Drive program. Additionally, I purchased a ton of Tootsie Rolls.
Finally, I had all the materials I needed to embark on my DoSomething.org crusade against reckless teen driving. Initially I planned to carry out my project at 5 high schools in the Portland area, but I decided to carry out the project on a larger scale at 3 of the largest schools in the district. These schools have a total of 6,847 students!
At first I thought it would be a good idea to put posters around the schools with safe driving facts and then ask the teens a question about facts on the poster, asking them to submit their answer to a prize drawing. However, I changed my mind. I instead decided that conversations with other teens about smart driving would be more effective, so I rallied a group of friends to go to each school during lunch to run a smart driving trivia contest. I made a lunchtime announcement over the PA, inviting teens come up to our table to learn about the #1 killer of teens and answer a smart driving question for the chance to win prizes. Our activity table had tons of flyers from KeeptheDrive.com so that those who participated could learn about the issue. Also, teens would draw a card from a trivia deck, with each card offering one of several questions:

Here’s a situation: You are a passenger in the car; your good friend is driving recklessly and you feel unsafe. What do you say? What do you do?

Name 4 distractions for teen drivers.

Name 4 consequences of careless or reckless driving.

What are 2 ways you can decrease distractions while you or your friends are driving?

Name 3 ways you can decrease your distractions while driving. If you don’t drive yet: name 2 ways you can decrease distractions when you do drive.

Name 3 ways to decrease distractions for a driver when you are the passenger.
What are some things that you protect when you drive safely?

What are some things that you endanger when you drive recklessly?

What are some things that you protect when you drive safely?

What are some things that you endanger when you drive recklessly?

After they answered the question they would draw a slip of paper from the prize box, winning candy, a sticker, a water bottle, or a t-shirt. (If they didn’t know the answer we would help them brainstorm answers.) The project was designed so that every participant won a prize! Teens were very responsive to this project because it was interactive, involved free prizes, and educated teens about the dangers of reckless driving without boring them! The project was such a success because teens were able to talk with each other about a topic they might not normally think about. Also, the t-shirts and prizes not only advertise smart driving practices, but also puts the Keep the Drive name into local areas so that teens wearing the t-shirts and using the water bottles will spark conversations about the #1 killer of teens.
This was an extremely engaging project that not only grabbed the attention of thousands of teenagers, but also made a lasting impression on teenage attitudes about driving. Thank you to everyone at DoSomething and Keep the Drive for this amazing opportunity to fight the #1 killer of teens!