The Safe Driving Scholarship engages Billings students in traffic safety initiatives

BILLINGS — During National Teen Safe Driving Week, several dozen Billings Public School students were selected to participate in the Be the Change Fellowship movement to promote safe driving skills at the Mansfield Medical Education Center on Friday.

Organized by Safe Kids Yellowstone County, this initiative aims to prevent unintentional injuries in the community. They enlisted the help of a national organization Make an impact on teen drivers with the Be the Change Fellowship program that helps teach teenagers to stop distracted and reckless driving.

“We proposed this as a response to many of the problems we have with car crash fatalities and injuries among our teenagers. It is the number one killer of teenagers in the state of Montana,” Safe Kids of Yellowstone said. District Coordinator Koren Blum.

During the program, students learned about various deadly distractions and how to avoid them. They created posters and video ads about safe driving, and several speakers shared personal stories about the effects of distracted driving.

One of those speakers was Martha Tessmer. Her son Donovan was a senior in high school when he died in a car accident several years ago. He was sitting in the passenger seat with other teenagers in the car. Everyone was distracted by the loud music and those in the back seat started telling the driver to go faster until they eventually lost control of the car.

“Of course they drove the wrong way. It wasn’t who they were or how they usually acted, but all it took was one bad ride and it changed our lives and took his life,” Tessmer said.

After her son’s accident, Tessmer traveled the country with Impact, hoping to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. She encourages students to advocate safe driving habits and speak up when they see risky behavior.

“That’s the message I want teenagers to understand. Every time they get into a car, they have to be careful. They should be aware. They have to be careful, Tessmer said. – Another thing I want to make sure they understand is what they have to say. Maybe your one voice will make the journey safer and may save a life because I will always wonder if anyone has spoken to Donavan and if he is alive.”

Nearly 50 students from all public high schools were invited in the hope of taking the message back to their peers.

“They will listen to (their peers) a lot more,” Bloom said. “Over the past few years, we’ve had a lot of teenagers involved in fatal collisions, and these students are the ones who feel the impact the most. Giving them a voice allows them to be heard and gives them the opportunity to make a difference.”

Skyview freshman Chase Erickson just completed driver’s education last week and was selected to participate in the program. He said he was able to learn valuable lessons from the program that will continue as he works toward his license.

“Always buckle up. Do not be distracted behind the wheel. Make sure your passengers feel safe and buckled in,” Erickson said.

Erickson reflected on how these lessons apply not only to his own safety, but also to the well-being of others on the road.

“For me, this is very important because you are not only responsible for yourself, but also for your passengers and other people on the road. So you don’t want to get distracted and it results in someone else being hurt or killed on the road or one of your passengers. You want to make sure that you and other people are safe,” Erickson said.

Safe Kids hopes to continue the annual Be the Change Fellowship with more students and develop safe driving clubs in schools.

“Especially our children here lately, they have suffered a lot. Their parents suffered greatly. Our first responders, we’ve been hit hard, and I think by giving these guys the tools to make a difference, I’m ready for the number of injuries on the registry to start going down because I have high hopes for what these guys can do,” said Bloom.

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