Minnesota teen drivers continue to be overrepresented in traffic crashes due to driver inexperience, distraction, speeding and risk-taking. While progress has been made with laws prohibiting cell phone use for teen drivers and the graduated driver’s license law, continued education is needed to reduce teen driving deaths.
To educate young drivers on the importance of staying safe behind the wheel, the Minnesota State Patrol created “Lasting Impact,” a video about a teen driver who made a fatal mistake.
In December 2015, four friends decided to go for a joyride on a steep gravel road near Pine Island. All three passengers were unbuckled when the driver lost control of her vehicle at a high rate of speed. Eighteen-year-old Logan Maas, a Triton High School senior, was killed when he was ejected from the vehicle.
Logan’s death had a huge impact not only on his family but on the entire community. “Lasting Impact” includes interviews with the Maas family, the driver and school officials, and shows how one life lost can change a community forever.
The copyrighted video, presented by a Minnesota State Patrol trooper, is available at no cost to all high schools and driver education classes across Minnesota, or any organization that would find it valuable. The program will last 40-50 minutes.
Our goal is to educate drivers, promote good decision-making, and raise awareness of the important responsibility that comes with driving. The video presents real-life situations to help drivers understand the consequences of poor decisions behind the wheel.
Please contact Sergeant Troy Christianson, Minnesota State Patrol, at (507) 951-2480 or Troy.christianson@state.mn.us.