By BECKY KISER
Hays Post

More teens die from car crashes than any other cause — and the first year of driving is the most dangerous.

To bring awareness of safe driving habits to teens, Hays High School has joined the project “Celebrate My Drive.” Celebrate My Drive encourages teens to make positive choices as they begin driving, with slogans such as 2N2 — two eyes on the road, two hands on the wheel.

The online campaign, sponsored by State Farm Insurance, is also a contest.

HHS Assistant Principal Chris Michaelis said people making the online commitment at www.celebratemydrive.com to drive safely also can help the school win a grant from State Farm of up to $100,000.

“Any driver can go online to www.celebratemydrive.com once a day through Oct. 24, and make a safe driving commitment on behalf of Hays High. When you log on to the website, it asks you some questions about safe driving. Those questions change every day,” he explained.

The contest divided the participating schools into large and small high school categories.

“For me, personally, it’s been a long time since I had driver’s education and some rules have changed,” Michaelis discovered, “so it’s a good refresher for us ‘older generations’ to go back and review and think about safe driving.”

The grant awards are to be used in part for safe driving education within the 100 winning schools.  A portion of the grant can be used at the school’s discretion.

“We want to educate our students about safe driving habits,” Michaelis said. “They’re just learning how to drive, and sometimes teenagers feel like they’re invincible and they can do a lot of different things while driving.”

Not true, he stressed.

“Statistics prove that you have to be focused on driving. … We want to educate our youth and we also want to educate the Hays public (about safe driving.) This is an opportunity to do both.”