LaredoBuzz.Com

Courtesy Robert Treviño

The “Teens in the Driver Seat Organization” of the Vidal M. Trevino School of Communications and Fine Arts participated in a Press Conference at the State Capitol to announce the results of a study combining the Texas graduated driver’s license initiative and the Teens in the Driver Seat Programs.  Laredo ISD was the only program in the state to have two students chosen to be on the advisory board.  Alberto Torres, Jr., president of the Teens in the Driver Seat Program at VMT, was chosen to be the spokesperson for the 13 member Texas Teens in the Driver Seat Advisory Board and Oscar Cortez, Jr. was selected as a member of the state board.

 The VMT Teens in the Driver Seat program was recognized as the best program in the state and has been challenged to compete against a Connecticut program next year to determine the best program in the nation.

 Highlighted were three activities that the VMT program conducted in Laredo last year which included the Fernando A. Salinas 5K Run in memory of Mercurio Martinez, IV, the induction of a Community Advisory Board, and both radio and television public service announcements prepared, acted in , and edited by the VMT Communications classes.

 The press conference included the number of teen deaths caused nationally by unsafe teen driving practices and the results showed that traffic deaths of teenage drivers in Texas dropped by twice the number of the national rate.  The peer-to-peer program is credited with having contributed to the awareness of teens to be safer drivers by spreading the word that most teenage accidents happen after 9 pm, by teens texting, speaking on their cell phones, not using their seatbelts, or by distractions caused by other teens in the vehicle.

 The VMT Teens in the Driver Seat received recognition from media outlets that covered the press conference including CNN, USA Today, The Austin Statesman, Univision, The Washington Post, The LA Times, amongst others.