Anya Strauss told a group of Englewood High School students today about a ride home from a party she took a few years ago.
“We were a little late leaving the party, so we pushed it,” she said. “We were so close to my house, I never thought about anything happening to us.”
Strauss was 15 at the time, attending Golden High School. She was riding with a 16-year-old driver, who lost control of the car on gravel, rolled off a 30-foot embankment and ended upside down, on the car’s roof.
“We were hanging upside down by our seat belts,” she said. “A boulder broke out the windshield. Luckily, we walked away from the car.”
Strauss was part of a group of law-enforcement officials kicking off a “Click It or Ticket” campaign this week in 11 counties in Colorado, trying to get teenagers to buckle up, whether they’re driving or passengers.
In 2005, 71 teenagers died in Colorado from car accidents, 50 of whom were not wearing seat belts.
Sue Matzick, a surgical nurse at Denver Health Medical Center and a former emergency medical technician for 10 years, told the group that 75 percent of accident victims who are ejected from cars die of their injuries.
“Motor-vehicle crashes are the leading cause of teen deaths,” she said.
The group announced a pledge drive in 11 Colorado high schools to gather at least 400 signatures from teenagers promising to buckle up. Each student who signs up will receive a black wrist bracelet commemorating the 50 teens who died not wearing seat belts in 2005.
For the rest of this week, law-enforcement agencies will join Colorado Department of Transportation in the 11 most populated counties to promote teen seat-belt programs. The counties are Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Denver, Douglas, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, Mesa, Pueblo and Weld.
Outside Englewood High, students gathered around a mangled car in which three teenagers were killed in a 2003 crash.
Kylee Arterburn, 17, a senior, said she was a believer in seat belts.
“I always make sure everyone in my car uses their seat belt,” she said. “I feel responsible for them.”
Annette Jackson, 17, also a senior, said her family always uses seat belts — except for her father, who sometimes forgets. “I always wear them. I believe they help,” she said.
The push by 36 law-enforcement agencies will go through May 2008.
Eleven high schools will focus on getting teens to sign the pledge to use their seat belts. They include Adams City, Boulder, Abraham Lincoln, Columbine, Alameda, Pueblo Central, Fossil Ridge, Fruita Monument, Roosevelt, Englewood and Manitou Springs.
The results will be posted on .
Mike McPhee: 303-954-1409 or mmcphee@denverpost.com
