In conjunction with the California Highway Patrol, Bonita Vista High (BVH) will be hosting a two-hour class on October 30th designed to teach students and parents safe driving etiquette.

The Start Smart class is a free class that aims to create more aware, more educated, and better prepared drivers. By attending the program, students and parents will receive a certificate and will also have the opportunity to receive a discount on insurance. The program is being brought back by BVH Principal Roman Del Rosario Ed.D. and will be taught by the CHP Public Informations Officer Jake Sanchez.

“In some cases, parents might feel as if they aren’t willing to spend money [on car insurance] because it’s very expensive to get it, but with that discount, it can make a huge difference,” Sanchez said. “Insurance companies realize that if you have taken the class and you have been exposed to the dangerous [practices] that are killing kids, you are very likely to get that discount.” 

Besides the insurance discount, the program addresses the issue of car accidents among teenagers, as it is the leading cause of adolescent death. Sanchez stressed the importance of the program – not just for the opportunity to save money, but the opportunity to save lives.

“What a lot of teenagers don’t realize is that the number one killer of kids in their age group is car crashes. So the things we talk about are the dangers that you do not think about when you are driving a car and why things like speeding are so dangerous, why not wearing a seatbelt is so dangerous, why texting or using your phone is dangerous while you’re behind the wheel,” Sanchez said. 

Del Rosario, being the Principal of BVH, was also very adamant about the importance of getting the message out to students about the program and its potential to save the lives of students. 

“Driver safety is a big issue. From my understanding of the statistics, the biggest cause of adolescent deaths is driving accidents – more than teen suicide, more than drug overdoses, more than any other cause. It’s driver safety, and I just think it is important that we help emphasize that to keep the community safe,” Del Rosario said.

The program is heavily focused on educating the parents as well. Many parents drive their kids to school, and the program also emphasizes the importance of their education. IB English and Theory of Knowledge teacher Jason Good has noticed the unsafe driving practices that many parents undertake. 

“I would say that I, more often than not, see parents driving a little recklessly. I do see parents not following our speed limits in the parking lot. I have almost been hit by parents a number of times both pulling out of the parking lot, as well as just walking to my vehicle,” Good said. 

The Start Smart class will be easily available to students and parents. Del Rosario plans on the school being vocal about the program and making sure that messages are sent out in a timely manner that allows the word to get out to enough students.

“Students will have the opportunity to RSVP but I am pretty sure [that the program] will accept walk-ins as well. So we are going to set up the RSVP’s and you’re going to start hearing about it next week before we go on fall break and a couple of weeks following break we will send out emails and a lot of reminders,” Del Rosario said.

Sanchez has high hopes for the program and feels that, with the Start Smart class, the possibility to save lives is very real.

“My biggest nightmare is to not get across to a kid and [then] have to respond to a crash, and knowing that I could have gotten that information to that kid and let them know how dangerous what they were doing actually is,” Sanchez said. “So the more information we can get out, the more safe we can make all of our teenagers – the better it will be.”