PTSA Hosts Movie Night to Encourage Cautious Driving

Driving videos present interviews, anecdotes, and tips to persuade students to take driving more seriously

By: Arya Sureshbabu

Irvington High School’s PTSA organized and hosted their Safe Driver Awareness Movie Night on Friday, October 25, in Norse Hall. This presentation, part of Irvington’s participation in the Celebrate my Drive program, aimed to provide student drivers and their parents with information on how to minimize the risk of road accidents and spread awareness about the prevalence and consequences of such accidents. The evening consisted of a series of videos interspersed with discussions run by officers from the Students of PTSA Club and concluded with a list of common precautions that drivers should take into consideration.

Of the videos, one was targeted particularly towards teenagers, while the others were part of a series of clips produced by the AAA Insurance Company to provide general information about driving safety under various circumstances. The former included several short interviews with high school students about their driving habits and stories of teenagers whose lives were changed irrevocably by car crashes. One such anecdote featured the story of Donovan Tessemer, a football player who died in a crash because his girlfriend swerved the car in an attempt to show off to their friends sitting in the backseat. As for the videos concerning driving safety, they contained useful hints for driving in the dark or during times of severe weather as well as information about such subtleties as when to turn on headlights and how to navigate a snowy road.

PTSA’s primary purpose in hosting this educational movie night and encouraging students to sign safe driving pledges for the Celebrate my Drive program was to create a safer environment at Irvington for both inexperienced and experienced drivers. The need to highlight the dangers of reckless driving stemmed from the fact that most teenage drivers tend to be unaware of the potential for disaster.

“At the start of the driving experience, many teens tend to think, ‘It won’t happen to me,’” said Naier Wang, Students of PTSA president. “This thought often leads to students taking more risks than they should.”

The movie night was intended to counteract such a mentality and provide constructive advice against recklessness on the road. This purpose appears to have been at least partially achieved.

Following the presentation, junior Jiny Lee commented, “The videos made me realize that driving shouldn’t be taken so lightly, and that we need to be careful when we do drive.”