Last Thursday, May 24, my son and two of his friends were involved in a serious car accident where the car flipped, landed on the roof, and no windows remained with the exception of a shattered windshield. I am happy to tell you all were buckled in and my son, because of Street Smart, had made his friend put the backpack in the trunk.

All were very blessed...no one was seriously injured. My son had a scrape on his knee and elbow. The front seat passenger had to get three stitches on her knee. The back seat passenger had to get 8 stitches on his head. The back pack was found about 20-30 feet from the car; but did not strike any of the passengers because it was in the trunk!!!

Thank you so much for the opportunity to attend this program - I know it saved at least three lives!!!

The program definitely made a difference to our student body. A number of my students told me that even though they don't usually wear seatbelts, as a result of this program they will be buckling up every time they get into a car. On my way home this evening, I saw two of our 7th graders standing next to a major road (safely in a yard) holding a sign that said "Wear Seatbelts."

The impact of your presentation will be felt by these students for many years and will be passed on to their friends and family. Thank you for what you do - both in the presentations and as paramedics!

He was in the truck with 2 other boys, none of which had their seatbelt on. Would Chris have made it if his seatbelt would have been buckled? That is something I will never know. I will wonder about it all my life. The day he took me for a ride in his new truck, I talked to him about using his seatbelt and how it would break his parent's heart if he got killed. This was just a few short months before he died. My nephew was a big boy, at least 6 foot tall and muscular. He was in the floor of the truck with another boy when they were removed from the truck. I am a nurse, as is Chris's mom and we could look at Chris and know what all was wrong. I still miss him so much, because you see, my husband was in poor health and he gave up the day we told him that his buddy Chris was dead. I lost my husband just 10 days after Chris died. Please, people, teach your children from a young age to wear their seat belts. Children learn from what they see, buckle your belts. Teens, you are all very special and people hurt if you are killed because you didn't wear your seat belt. BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELTS.

In fact, they left the party early because they were tired and wanted to go home. AJ was driving and Katie was in the passenger seat. On the way home AJ fell asleep at the wheel, and collided with the gaurdrail. AJ was wearing his seatbelt and had minor cuts and bruises... Katie was not. She was ejected from the car into oncoming traffic. She was then hit by another car. She did not survive. To think that if she just would have put on her seatbelt she would have only had cuts and bruises hurts so bad! A law is being passed in memory of Katlyn Marie Marchetti.

When Street Smart presented the program, it was very eye-opening to me and probably to a lot of other people in that auditorium that day. It made me realize that no matter how much I don't like wearing it, or how much time it wastes getting it on, that it is something that could very possibly save my life. So I would just like to thank Street Smart presenters for bringing this program to our school. It was a big wake-up call to me and a lot of my friends. So thanks so much!

But in this case she was not the drinker, she was the victim. It was Sadies night (Feb. 9th) and she was on her way home from her boyfriends house, just as she was pulling into her street a drunk driver hit her, spun her around and killed her almost instantly. Everyone was devastated. This upcoming February will make one year she has been gone. So if you do decide to drink and drive, stop and think about it because you could be the one to get in a wreck and seriously injure or maybe even kill your best friend or classmate and do you really want to live with that guilt for the rest of your life?

Your presentation brought the information to a personal level. I mean, we hear about fatalities all the time, but it's always someone else. This time we got to see who it was and see what happened.

Thank you. I'll never be able to be in a car the same way again.

My mom insisted that I watch the speaker on seatbelt safety, so I agreed that I would. After watching the presentation you would imagine that everyone was saying that it could never happen to them, when in fact, it was the complete opposite. The pictures shown in the presentation and the visual backboard everyone in the class looked at each other and said "What if that was me".

On March 13, 2003, I was having a great morning because mom said that I didn't have to go to first period and that I could come later to second. I took my time getting ready knowing that I had nothing to rush for and I got in my car and put down the top of my convertible. Before I had left the driveway I had buckled my safety belt and placed my school papers in the seat. I was driving on 429 and going about 80 mph. You can imagine that going 80, the papers in the backseat were ready to fly away. I turned quickly to push them under the seat and when I turned around, I was driving in the grass. As a young and inexperienced driver, I panicked and turned the wheel fast, which caused the car to spin. Again, I panicked and turned the wheel too fast. I drove right into the grass and my car flipped 1 Ѕ times. I was under the car for about 15 minutes and couldn't move because my head was between the car and the ground. When the paramedics arrived, they lifted the car off of me; I unbuckled my seatbelt and walked over to them. Of course I was shook up, but the witnesses say that I wouldnt have survived without my seatbelt. This program not only educated new drivers, but it saved my life.

While sitting at a stop light in a line of traffic, I was suddenly hit from behind. At first I didn't realize what had happened as my car wasn't facing the red light anymore. Very shaken up with a good sized bump on my head I removed my seatbelt and ran towards the cries of my best friend. Then I witnessed a sight I will never forget, the sight of another friend lying in the backseat of the car after he was thrown from the front. Through all the smoke and shattered glass, I tried to help him. So many thoughts were going through my head, and I knew the situation was very critical.

I began to feel sick as I waited for the ambulance to arrive; it felt like I was waiting for an eternity. Watching the paramedics try to save my friend was very scary. So much chaos and sirens, yelling and crying – it all happened so fast. Things weren't going good and then we found out our friend did not make it. When I heard this news everything just became a big blur. I thought to myself how lucky I was to be alive, and if I wasn't wearing my seatbelt then I could have been in the same position as my friend.

In 9th grade I attended a S.A.F.E. Seatbelt Education presentation in Ms. Ramer's Life Management Class. The presentation given by the Orlando Firefighters (Scott and Marcus) made a huge impact on my views of seatbelts and their importance. My seatbelt left bruises and I received a bump on the head, but most importantly it left me a future. My friend may have been here with us today if the one thing commonly forgotten was remembered.

I learned from the presentation and then first-hand that it only takes a second for an innocent life to be taken. In this accident involving five people, four walked away with broken hearts. I am able to tell this story because I was wearing a seatbelt. I hope every high school student gets to see the same seatbelt presentation. It may save their life as well.

Also I always wore my seatbelt in the front, but not in the back seat. After the program I wear my seatbelt all the time!!! Mr. Joe & Mr. Vince explained everything very well and definitely convinced me on how important wearing my seatbelt is! I now always tell the person in the back, behind me to put their seatbelt on because I don't want their teeth in the back of my head!!! ;-) Thank You very much Mr. Joe & Mr. Vince for coming in and taking your time to do the presentation!

I guess the girl driving thought she would scare Conney and her other friends so she started to go really fast, like about 106, then I guess she lost control of the car and the car went flying off the road in to the woods. 2 died and 2 lived it just happened that Conney was one of the ones who died. Now Conney was not an only child she was a twin and her twin brother had a very hard time dealing with her death. I went to her morning and it was open casket. Let me tell you to see your friend laying there dead is the most horrible thing I have ever seen you have no idea. The image of her laying there will haunt me forever. A lot of teens think that will never happen to them but it could you never know.

In memory of Conney

(when she turned her head to look for traffic) she looked back and there was a car parked in the middle of the ramp. she ran smack into the back of the truck and was thrown into on coming traffic and rear ended by another car which spun her into the median... the medics told her that if she didn't have her seat belt on she would have been killed from major head trauma. ALWAYS WEAR A SEAT BELT!! it could have been my mom so it could be you!

2 weeks after I had moved, I received a phone call from another friend back home. She told me Maribel was dead.

It took me a few weeks to get all the information but what I found was this: Maribel had gotten drunk with some friends and decided to drive herself home. She was coming around a retention pond and didn't turn her car in time. Her car ended up under water and she didn't get out in time. She drowned in her own car.

It's been a year and still I have dreams about her, convincing myself that she is still alive by the time I wake up. Please don't let this happen to anyone else. You are a bigger influence in your friends' lives than you know. Be safe and God bless.