Like many parents of teenagers, Mary Jane Pirone is already worrying about the day her daughter Emily finally gets behind the wheel and begins driving.
Not only does she worry about her daughter driving, she also worries about Emily being a passenger in a car with other teen drivers. “Thinking about them going out with their friends that may be texting while driving or may be under the influence, it’s very scary,” she says.
Emily Pirone, 14, is a student at Lawrence Middle School who will be entering high school next year. She and her mother attended the Lawrence High School’s Cardinals Future student night earlier this year at Lawrence High School.
Physical education teacher Katherine O’Gorman manned a table with her students, all wearing matching baby-pink T-shirts with the slogan “a fast drive could be your last drive” printed on the back. With markers in hand, they asked the incoming freshmen to sign a pledge to be a safe driver.
Emily stepped up to the table with her mother, took a marker and signed the poster board. She said she’s excited to start driving one day, “but I want to be safe about it.”
“I’m glad that she signed the pledge,” Pirone said. “I think it’s a good thing that they are trying to get the kids involved in being a safe driver.”
The LHS Safe Drivers club began in November, and O’Gorman, who also teaches driver’s education at LHS, leads the club of roughly 30 students.
“I just want them making smart decisions on the road,” O’Gorman said.
The Safe Driver club meets two times each month and during their meetings they learn about the perils of teen drivers, make posters to hang around the school and have guest speakers.
Ava Glahn, a 16-year-old sophomore who is in the process of getting her permit, said she signed up for the club to learn more about safe driving and teach other students to be safer drivers.
“It’s really fun but it’s also, like, scared straight,” she said. “I’m definitely going to be a safe driver now.”
Glahn said that in the club, she’s learned about the statistics on teenage driving. According to the Centers on Disease Control, motor vehicle collisions are the leading cause of death for teens in the United States. In 2014 alone, 2,270 teens ages 16 to 19 were killed in motor vehicle accidents.
“I just want them making smart decisions on the road,” O’Gorman said.
At a driver’s education conference, O’Gorman said she learned about the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey’s UGotBrains? Champion Schools Program which hosts an annual competition for participating high schools across the state.
Each school chooses a teen driving topic and creates a campaign to promote within their schools. In May, the participating students will compete at the UGotBrains? Competition at Six Flags Great Adventure. The grand prize winners receive a driving simulator donated by the Brain Injury Alliance of New Jersey.
O’Gorman said her students chose the campaign “A fast drive could be your last drive” themselves.
“Definitely through the club I’m more aware that you have to take it easy on the pedal,” said 18-year-old Michael Scardelletti.
Scardelletti, a senior at LHS, said he heard an announcement for the club at school, so he attended a meeting and found it interesting. He took driver’s education at LHS as a sophomore and has his license, but he believes the club is a good refresher for students who already have their license or about to receive it.
Scardelletti admits that sometimes he has to tell his friends who are driving to slow down and pay attention to the road.
“You learn that there are dangers and risks and my life is a serious thing and a car is a serious thing,” Scardelletti said. “You can have fun, but be safe about it.”
During the club’s most recent meetings, students have been learning more about the risks of speeding and are brainstorming ways to promote their slogan throughout the school.
O’Gorman said the club has also had two guest speakers, including Donna Setaro, mother of fallen New Jersey State Trooper Marc Castellano, who advocates for the state’s Move Over Law. Her son was killed on I-95 when he was struck and killed by a vehicle while he was working a case along the side of the road.
Currently, students at LHS take driver’s education during their sophomore year which includes 30 hours of classroom education. New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission requires individuals be at least 16 years of age to obtain a student learner’s permit.
LHS Vice Principal Clifford Williams said the school is doing a great job producing safe drivers and reinforcing the knowledge learned during driver’s education through the duration of the student’s time in high school.
“From our perspective, safety is the number one most important thing on our part when it comes to our kids,” Williams said. “A club that focuses on safety and driving is near and dear to our hearts.”
While the Safe Driver’s Club is in its first year, O’Gorman and school officials hope to see the club continue and grow in future years.
Principal David Adams said he’s excited to see students talking to other students about safe driving.
“Driving is such an important issue regarding safety that we want to make sure our older students that have their licenses can continue to share, even before they get their licenses, the importance of taking this seriously,” Adams said.
O’Gorman hopes the club will help her students not only be safe drivers on their own, but impress their lessons on their friends.
“If they are with a friend that’s driving badly, I want them to be able to speak up and say, hey slow down, put your seatbelt on and not being afraid to call them out,” O’Gorman said.
“When they enter the high school as ninth graders, they are our kids and we look at it that way even when they graduate through our doors,” Adams said. “When they spend time at Lawrence High School, we absolutely feel that they are part of our family and we want to make sure we take care of them no matter what.”
The LHS Safe Drivers are promoting campaign their campaign on Twitter, @lhsdriversedclub.
Lawrence High School Safe Drivers Club members Sarah Marion, Damian Pisarski, Michael Scardelletti, advisor Katherine O’Gorman, Izabella Mus, Ava Glahn and Ryan Palombi gathered at LHS’s Future Students’ Night in January. (Photo by Amy Macintyre.),
