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Students at Winfree Academy in Lewisville recognized the month of March as Driver Safety Awareness Month. All month long the Lewisville campus has held events to showcase the importance of being safe on the roads.

The point of Driver Safety Awareness Month at Winfree Academy is to make sure that the students are aware of the potential dangers while driving and how to make smart choices behind the wheel.

According to the Centers for Disease Control, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for U.S. teens. About 35% of all teen deaths come from motor vehicle accidents. Although the proportion of teen deaths by motor vehicles is staggeringly high, this also means is that we can have specific focus for reducing teen death rates.

Typically Driver Safety Awareness Month (or sometimes referred to as Distracted Driving Awareness Month) is held in May or June, which means the school year is practically over by then. The staff and student council of Winfree Academy Lewisville recognized the importance of students making smart choices behind the wheel and wanted to educate the students during the school year. They decided March would be the perfect time to have Driver Safety Awareness Month for their campus.

Since the beginning of March, the campus has done much to educate students on driving safely. For instance, they have held a community spotlight every Friday for all students. The spotlight activities included everything from funny but educational videos, to teaching the students the acronym SMILE which stands for: Scan ahead, Maintain your lane, Increase your distance, Lower your speed, and Eliminate distraction.

Other activities included: decorating the hallways with posters that highlight driver safety tips, handing information pamphlets to parents at lunch, and placing informational car window clings on students’ cars in the parking lot.

“The reason we are doing this is simple: We want to keep our students safe,” says Johnson.

Winfree Academy Lewisville will continue to spread the message of being safe behind the wheel for the rest of the year and plan on continuing the Driver Safety Awareness Month tradition each March.

Originally written for TexasPromise.com