So I am reading the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey - this is done every three years.  Next survey will be out late in 2010. 

28% of Minnesota High School Senior Guys have reported that they have driven under the influence of drugs or alcohol in the past 12 months.

28%.

Are you ready for this one?  44% of you senior guys reported riding in a vehicle with a driver that had used drugs or alcohol.

Regardless of what circumstances you find yourself in, I plead with you to make a good decision on top of what ever bad decisions you may have made up until that point.  The single most important factor to your friends and family is that you make it home alive.  Call a friend that wasn’t at the party and have them bring you home.  Call your parents.  Decide beforehand who’s going to stay sober and get you home.  Eventually you will have a Get Home Free Card in your wallet.  But until you do, decide beforehand what your escape plan will be.  At 1:00AM, it’s too late to think through this. 

Change these statistics.  Don’t become a statistic.  We want you live to see another day.  Another party.  Another chance.  Think about it.

There was actually some good news mixed in with the bad news from the 2007 Minnesota Student Survey, released in December 2007 by the State of Minnesota.  We're a year away from this survey being updated (due in December, 2010)

• Students reporting across all grades that they always used seatbelts increased between 2004 and 2007 -- from 58.6 percent to 66.4 percent for 6th-graders; from 50.5 percent to 58.2 percent for 9th-graders and from 57.3 percent to 61.7 percent for 12th-graders. • Students reporting that they have smoked declined across all grades

• 12th-graders reporting that they used marijuana in the past year increased to 30.7 percent, compared to 27.1 percent in 2004

• 9th and 12th-graders reporting that they used methamphetamine in the past year dropped between 2004 and 2007 -- from 4.9 percent to 2.2 percent for 12th-graders and from 4.2 percent to 1.5 percent for 9th-graders

I will see what I can get for school specific information (if any) and post it here for you. 

"Traffic deaths are the leading killer of teenagers and this is largely due to the fact they still buckle up least often compared to any other age group," said Michael Campion, commissioner of the Department of Public Safety. 

YOU CAN CHANGE THIS.  WEAR YOUR SEATBELT, AND IF YOU ARE THE DRIVER - DON’T ROLL UNLESS YOUR PASSENGERS ARE BUCKLED UP.  IT’S YOUR JOB AS THE DRIVER TO GET THESE PEOPLE HOME SAFE.

We're well on our way to having the Get Home Card available in all 50 states by 2011.  We have market commitments from several states, as well as franchise requests from over 60 major metro areas across the United States.  Everyone has the same objective here... to bring you home safely.  Your emails and letters have made a difference for us.  If you want to see the Get Home Card available in your home state, please email dave@thegethomecard.com and we will notify you as soon as cards are available for purchase in your city!

2005 Statistics by State - As Reported on www.alcoholalert.com :

..>..>

State	Total Fatalities	Alcohol-Related Fatalities
		Number	Percent
California	4329	1719	40
Texas	3504	1569	45
Florida	3543	1471	42
Pennsylvania	1616	636	39
Illinois	1361	580	43
North Carolina	1534	549	36
Georgia	1729	545	32
New York	1429	524	37
Missouri	1257	515	41
Ohio	1323	505	38
Arizona	1177	492	42
South Carolina	1093	464	42
Tennessee	1270	464	37
Alabama	1131	423	37
Michigan	1129	421	37
Louisiana	955	394	41
Mississippi	931	371	40
Wisconsin	815	369	45
Virginia	947	347	37
Indiana	938	320	34
Kentucky	985	313	32
Washington	647	294	45
Oklahoma	802	283	35
New Jersey	748	263	35
Colorado	606	244	40
Maryland	614	235	38
Arkansas	648	233	36
Minnesota	559	201	36
New Mexico	488	189	39
Oregon	488	177	36
Massachusetts	442	171	39
Nevada	427	159	37
Kansas	428	151	35
West Virginia	374	126	34
Montana	251	124	49
Connecticut	274	120	44
Iowa	450	118	26
Nebraska	276	91	33
Idaho	275	89	32
South Dakota	186	80	43
Hawaii	140	71	51
Delaware	134	66	49
Wyoming	170	65	38
New Hampshire	166	60	36
Maine	169	59	35
North Dakota	123	58	47
Rhode Island	87	43	50
Utah	282	37	13
Alaska	72	35	48
Vermont	73	29	40
District of Columbia	48	26	55
National	43,443	16,885	39

The Get Home Free Card is proud to be a sponsor of the UCA Midwest Regional Cheerleading Competition, Saturday November 10th 2007 @ Minnetonka High School. 

Congrats to all participants, and good luck getting your invitation to the UCA Nationals to be held in Orlando, Florida in February 2007!

We've been fortunate enough to be mentioned in the YPulse blog of journalist Anastasia Goodstein.  Check it out!

To do things today exactly the way you did them yesterday saves thinking.  - Woodrow Wilson

My family lost a cat two weeks ago today.  She simply did not come home.  The heart break my kids and wife felt for this loss was significant.  Something that was supposed to be there was missing.  Every day they look out the window hoping that the reality of this loss changes.  It's not likely to change.

How much more significant is the loss that people are feeling today in the wake of 4 confirmed dead, 79 injured, and 20 missing people from last night's bridge disaster in downtown Minneapolis?  The uncertainty.  The loss.  The sadness that is covering this city like a blanket.  The pictures.  The tears.  The loss. It's not likely to change.

My prayer and hope is that each of you Get Home Safe this evening.  I wish I could rewind time and help the people on the bridge Get Home Safe as well.

~ Dave

Imagine attending your  best friends funeral.  What if you were the driver in the accident that killed her?  What would that feel like?  What if together you could have done something to change the outcome? You've heard this talked about 100x.  But now... what happens if it reaches your inner circle?  422 kids (see below) probably thought this could never happen to their friends.  Imagine that day.  How do you make it through your best friends funeral?

The leading cause of death for Minnesota teens is traffic crashes — more than the next four leading causes combined.

 

Each year, one in 10 licensed Minnesota teen drivers is reported in a crash.

 

Minnesota drivers ages 16 –18 years old are involved in one out of every four injury crashes and one out of every six fatality crashes.

 

Crashes involving young drivers frequently involve driver error and/or speeding. Crashes often occur when other young people are in the vehicle with young drivers. Teens are disproportionately involved in crashes as passengers as well as drivers.

 

In Minnesota from 1999 to 2003, 422 persons were killed and more than 45,000 were injured in crashes involving drivers ages 16–18 years old. Nationwide, two out of three teens that die as passengers are in vehicles driven by other teens.

 

The three most common contributing factors to traffic crashes resulting in teen fatalities and injuries are: seat belt non-use, distracted driving/inattentiveness and speeding.

Source: Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety (OTS)