On Thursday, March 30, members of The Youth Traffic Safety Council paired with our SADD team, combined with 120 high school students from 10 high schools to attend a leadership conference held at PennWest Cal. There, they first heard from Jacy Good, a woman who was injured in a crash going home from her graduation ceremony in 2008. Her life, along with the lives of many around her, was changed by another driver's decision to use a phone while driving. She lost both of her parents in the fatal incident, and has severe mental and physical deficits herself, leaving her partially paralyzed. She and her husband travel far and wide, speaking to schools and other groups on the dangers of using a phone while driving. (Read and hear more of her story at: https://www.hangupanddrive.com)
They also heard from Cpl. Aaron Allen of the PA State Police Heritage Affairs Division who spoke about diversity, bias, and stereotypes. Lastly, they enjoyed the high energy ThinkFast! Interactive game show which incorporated questions on safe driving practices along with pop trivia questions to keep the students engaged in an intense conference-wide battle for first place. We thank the Highway Safety Network, State Farm, AAA, and PennDot for allowing us this opportunity.
