Determination Rises from Tragedy – Payson High School Project Ignition Team Works to Educate Teens on Distracted Driving

PAYSON - February 16, 2010 - Tragedy paid two horrible visits to the Payson High School campus in 2009. Julia Wright, a student closely involved with the Payson High School Project Ignition team, was killed in an all-terrain vehicle (ATV) accident.  The community barely had begun to heal when teacher Cynthia Pool was hit and killed on the highway during a cross-country bike ride this past summer.

Amidst tears, grief and heartache, determination rose from school administrators, teachers and students to make it harder for tragedy to return to the rural Arizona campus.

Enter Payson Project Ignition, part of a larger national effort promoting safe driving for teens.  Because of both fatalities, the Payson Project Ignition team elected to expand the focus of this year’s Project Ignition project to include both ATVs and bicycles, and to continue looking for more effective ways to educate students on being more aware of their surroundings.

“The accidents made the Project Ignition Team more determined to make sure that would never again,” Project Ignition faculty adviser Shelly Camp said.  “We wanted to make the students more aware of all the things that cause distractions – it’s more than just drinking and driving.”

Members of the Project Ignition Team decided to utilize a multi-facet approach, beginning this past summer with a booth at the National Night Out to spread parent and student awareness about the project.  The main component geared to the Payson High School student body was an on-campus event – Project Ignition Day.  The half-day event, set aside specifically by the school to spread the word about safe driving, was held at Payson High School on Nov. 18th.

More than 700 students participated in the event, which featured a variety of workshops including an obstacle course students had to complete wearing goggles simulating what a person’s vision is like after drinking.

This year's event included Kevin Brooks as keynote speaker.  Brooks, who is paralyzed from the chest down, shared his own experience with driving recklessly and under the influence as a riveted Payson High School student body listened intently.  Brooks told of how he rolled his car and totaled it, resulting in his paralysis as well as the death of a close childhood friend.

A mock accident featuring a helicopter rescue also took place during the day, as well as a number of workshops including:

• A physics lab showing the severity of impact for drivers and passengers involved in an accident
• Department of Public Safety roll-Over and airbag demonstrations
• Presentations on the importance of seat-belt usage and other driver safety issues

The Payson Project Ignition Team is also working on distracted driving issues outside the Payson High School campus.  Earlier this year, team members and student government members met with Arizona State House Representative Steve Farley and an aide for Sen. Al Melvin, who were both working on legislation impacting laws faced by teens about to receive their licenses.

The students’ consensus was that while much of the bill was positive, there were several components of the legislation the students believed would place undue burdens on the driver.  Rep. Farley was so impressed by the student representatives that he asked them to return to the Capitol to testify as to why texting while driving should be illegal in Arizona.

In addition, the Project Ignition team utilized social media and on-line sources as well as traditional media to saturate the community with its messages.

The Payson program’s impact is now being recognized on a national level.  Camp said the school was selected as one of the top 25 Project Ignition programs nationally. Team members will now travel to Nashville this spring to report on their efforts.