LIBERTY, ILL. -- Liberty teens Brooke Wiewel and Olivia Hanzel are headed to Washington D.C. to attend the Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit.
The summit will take place on December 1-3.
They are one of 19 teams from across the country that will lead a teen distracted driving prevention initiative in their community.
Wiewel and Hanzel will work with peers across the U.S. to bring an action plan back to Liberty to help stop distracted driving. The activities planned by the teens will be wrapped up in May during Global Youth Traffic Safety Month.
"Distracted driving is an epidemic on our roadways, and our youngest drivers are among the most at risk," U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said. "I'm thrilled these young ambassadors will be spreading the word to fellow teens in their communities that texting and driving don't mix."
According to Wiewel and Hanzel, they chose to take on distracted driving because, "Distracted driving is becoming more and more of a problem among our peers and something has to be done about it. We want to make an impact on the youth in our community in a way that no one else has before."
KHQA's Jeff Mondlock is spending time with Wiewel and Hanzel Thursday to find out more about their plans.
In the meantime, have you taken the KHQA pledge to Just Let It Ring? Eighty-two percent of teens use a cell phone while driving. Forty-nine percent of those admitted to texting while driving according to textinganddriving.com. Help us raise awareness by taking the pledge and telling others to do the same at http://www.connecttristates.com/justletitring/.
In the month of November, KHQA and Interstate Batteries are giving away an iPad to those who Just Let It Ring. You'll also be entered to win a Chevy Spark from Shottenkirk Chevy.
(Some information provided by Cathy Gillen with the National Organization for Youth Safety.)
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