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Media Advisory: Teens to Join Roadway Safety Leaders and Families of Distracted Driving Crash Victims at "Teens & Trucks" Demo

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

June 1, 2011

WHAT:

"Teens and Trucks" news conference to demonstrate the need for teen drivers to steer clear of a truck’s "No Zone" and to sign up teens for a "No Texting While Driving" pledge.

WHY:     

  • Traffic crashes are the #1 cause of death and injury of teens and young adults.
  • The graduation season, end of the school year and the start of summer is the most deadly time of year for teens on the nation’s roadways.
  • Teens are disproportionately involved in fatal crashes with large trucks. 

WHEN:

Thursday, June 2, 2011, at 11:00 a.m.

WHERE:    

Walt Whitman High School
7100 Whittier Boulevard
Bethesda, Maryland
18-wheel tractor trailer will be parked in front of school for "No Zone" demo

WHO:    

  • Anne Ferro, Administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration
  • Sandy Spavone, Executive Director, National Organizations for Youth Safety
  • Steve Keppler, Executive Director, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance
  • Jacy Good: On the day of her college graduation in May 2008, a young driver talking on a cell phone on a Pennsylvania roadway ran a red light, causing a tractor-trailer to crash into the Goods’ vehicle, seriously injuring Jacy and killing her parents. Jacy resides in White Plains, NY.
  • Laurie Kelly, a Takoma Park, Maryland mother and teacher whose 23-year-old son was killed in a distracted driving crash in Colorado in May 2010.
  • Maryland State Police First Sgt. Robert Mondor will lead a "Stay Out of the No Zone" car-truck safety demonstration.
  • High school students will stand inside the truck’s "No Zone" to demonstrate areas around a truck where passenger vehicles cannot be seen.

VISUALS:    

TRUCK "NO ZONE" DEMONSTRATION: High school students will stand inside a tractor-trailer’s "No Zone" to highlight the areas around a truck where a truck driver cannot see passenger vehicles.

"NO TEXTING PROMISE": Students will sign a "No Texting Promise" poster that will be on display next to the tractor-trailer.

TEENS & TRUCKS television and radio public service spots will be available to attending news media.