Young leaders inspire safer driving habits through Drive With Care

Pedestrian safety hit home for Curie Metropolitan High School students and their families in 2009 when a fellow student was struck while crossing at a nearby intersection on his way to school. The student was hospitalized and survived the crash.

One class in particular has found a way to improve safety near their school through Active Trans’ Drive With Care program. The Forefront class, which is part of a program called the Mikva Challenge that teaches teens about civics and action, has chose transportation and safety as a focus area for the class.

Drive With Care, which began as a pilot in 2005, works to stigmatize dangerous driving behavior like speeding, distracted driving, failing to yield and disobeying signals.

You can find the Curie students designing posters, writing blogs, designing T-shirt and tabling at report card pick-up to spread the word about safe driving by collecting Drive With Care Pledge signatures.

And it is paying off: the students have collected more than 1,000 Drive With Care pledges.

"The Curie students have embraced a vision of a safer and more walkable community, and their passioned outreach serves as a role model to other students to promote a culture of safe driving and sensible road use," said Lina Hoffman, Active Trans Drive With Care program coordinator and North Suburban coordinator.

Students participating in Drive With Care are eligible to win one of the five $1,000 education scholarships. We will announce the winners this spring.

The Curie students show no sign of slowing on their safe-driving quest. They met with Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley at the annual Active Trans Member Meeting to discuss pedestrian safety in Chicago. Students were also honored as the 2009 Active Trans Emerging Leader Volunteers. Down the road, Hoffman said, the program could even evolve into student-led trainings on Drive With Care outreach.

Drive With Care is supported by the Stop for Maya, a campaign dedicated to bicyclist and pedestrian safety. Stop for Maya is named after Maya Hirsch, a 4-year-old who was killed in 2006 when a car hit her.

“The students at Curie know first-hand the kinds of challenges that urban pedestrians and commuters encounter,” said Adam Heenan, a teacher at Curie. “Together with Active Trans, Curie students advocate for structural changes as well as teach the next generation of drivers how to be considerate to all roadway users, by both modeling and peer-to-peer education programming."

You can take the Drive With Care Pledge today and commit to safe and responsible driving.