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Join the Save Josh Campaign
May 13 2008 by Sara Lacey
Encourage Kids Everywhere to Buckle Up
OK, here's my one-woman crusade: My friend's kid's friend Josh has a problem. It's not that he gets good grades, or that he plays the trumpet in both the marching band and the jazz band. It's not even that he's heading to college this fall, nor that he's funny in that dry, teen, inside-joke sort of way. His problem is that he's a terrible driver.
He's gotten into accidents, been ticketed — he even attended an Alive At 25 program (not by choice, I think). He got a pretty red-metallic Toyota pickup after he got his license, and less than a month later it was parked outside without a front bumper.
I have to confess to ratting him out once after seeing him on the road by texting my friend, "You tell that Josh to fasten his seat belt!" Imagine my surprise when I got a response from her saying he doesn't wear his seat belt on purpose. Apparently, both his grandfather and father were in accidents where — so he says — the only thing that saved them was the fact that they weren't wearing seat belts and were thus thrown from the vehicle.
Now, we all know that teens use flawed logic. For instance, in this case a non-teen would say that his family's good fortune in surviving accidents was purely luck, coincidence and some chancy physics thrown in for good measure. Teen logic, however, could have him convinced his family has some sort of rare accident-survival gene. Teen logic would tell him that because he hasn't been harmed yet, he's not really in danger by not wearing a seat belt. Teen logic might also say he's got too much going on to be bothered with learning a new good habit, like buckling up.
But I'm scared for Josh. Those scary teen-driving statistics are staggering. In 2006, 4,842 teen passengers ages 16 to 20 were killed in motor vehicle crashes in the U.S., and 58 percent of those teens (2,813) were unrestrained at the time of the crash. Somehow, though, I don't think quoting those statistics to Josh would change his behavior. So what is there to do?
I know many people frown on public humiliation, but I'm just thinking this might be one of those cases where it takes that proverbial village. If you have any good advice on how I can help save Josh, please, please share it. Don't be mean, cruel or condescending. Maybe just make a bumper sticker or a T-shirt. Make a video, take pictures and send them to us at . Sing a song, hold a vigil, bake a Save Josh cake. You might not know Josh, but then you might have your own Josh. In that case, you can put your Josh's name on the cake or in the song, too. Your Josh needs to buckle up and drive safely just as much as mine does.
By the way, Josh isn’t a girl. And he doesn’t wear lipstick (that I know of).