Student video wins prize for warning of prom driving danger
By Globe Staff
It's prom night, and the teenagers sway and shake to a driving beat. They drink beer, smoke a joint, and get into a car. The screen goes black -- and you hear the sound of a crash. Then come images of the aftermath and the faces of shocked and grieving friends.
That's the outline of the winning video submitted by Jamie Cloutier, a student at Bay Path Regional Vocational Technical High School, in the state's "Dance. Don't Chance" contest, which was intended to highlight for teens the perils of dangerous driving. The video beat out 22 other submissions from schools statewide.
The award was announced yesterday at Bay Path in Charlton, where three students have died this year, including two in car crashes.
Sheila Burgess, director of highway safety for the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, said she believed that Bay Path students were moved to work on the project partly because of the deaths.
She said she thought the video, which is being played in numerous schools in the state on the in-school ChannelOne network as prom season gets underway, would "really hit home" with teenagers.
State officials say that 180 junior operators are suspended every week for reckless driving. Nationally, traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers, according to federal statistics.
Cloutier is a Southbridge senior who is in the graphic design program, officials said. Her prizes for winning the contest include non-alcoholic beverages for her entire class and free prom night transportation for 10.
