Reprint from the Progress Times - March 6, 2008
©Progress Times 2008 - All Rights Reserved

La Joya senior at the wheel of safety campaign

 

By Kathy Olivarez

Two months ago a long-time friend of D.A. Zapata, a La Joya High School senior, was killed in an automobile accident. Javier Solorzano, whom Zapata had known for years, was still on his friend’s mind when he and his family, en route to Houston, passed a Texas Department of Transportation billboard urging high school students to be safe behind the wheel.

When Zapata returned, he decided to do what he could to encourage his classmates to stay safe, especially during Spring Break.

"We’re telling everyone to have fun but to do it the right way," said Zapata. "We want people to be safe and understand the right way to react and handle certain situations."

Zapata has funneled his energy into creating a local chapter of TXDOT’s "Teens in the Driver’s Seat" campaign currently going on throughout the state of Texas. Zapata, along with his core membership of 12 students have been holding meetings and promotional events during lunch periods to impress upon other students the importance of being safe behind the wheel.

"We’ve been giving out business cards and putting green ribbons around trees," said Zapata. "We had a booth set up during the lunches of school and we’ve had the students make a pledge to stay safe and follow the five main safety rules."

The rules the campaign is stressing are to be extremely careful when driving at night, avoid distractions, don’t speed, always wear a seat belt and not to drive under the influence of alcohol.

According to TXDOT statistics, motor vehicle crashes are the number-one killer of teenagers in America, accounting for nearly half of all teen deaths. Teenagers are also 10 times more likely to die in a car crash than the average driver.

It is these statistics and the memory of his friend that compel Zapata to continue his campaign and even make plans for more events in the future.

"In the future we’d like to keep getting the word out," said Zapata. "We plan on going into the parking lot to do seat belt checks and if they’re wearing some give them key chains and pens and we’d even like to start raising money for scholarships."