Youth Driven

Hunter is a student leader who has been committed to Youth Driven since day one. Throughout this podcast Hunter shares his perspective about different traffic safety topics, including drugged driving, seat belts and much more. He is a driven individual and I am so pleased to introduce you to Hunter.

Liza Burkin is an urban planner, mobility advocate, writer, and is extremely passionate about roadway infrastructure and making our streets safer for all road users. In this podcast Liza explains how the infrastructure of our roads is so crucial to the safety of not just pedestrians and cyclists but for drivers too. Liza explains how adding a tree canopy over a road can reduce speeding or how adding curbs to an intersection can reduce the number of traffic crash incidents from occurring. Education and prevention programs help in reducing crashes but Liza explains why we also need to change the infrastructure of our road ways in order to reach our goal of zero fatalities. Liza is the lead organizer of the Providence Streets Coalition, which is an alliance of community organizations, local businesses, schools, institutions, civic leaders, and engaged individuals advocating for people-friendly streets in Providence. To learn more visit their website at pvdstreets.org.

Bella is one of our student leaders who is never scared of a challenge and always finds a way to get her traffic safety messages out to her school. Throughout this podcast Bella shares her perspective about different traffic safety topics, including seat belt safety, her exsperiance as a new driver and much more. She is one of the most driven students I have every met and it is my honor to introduce you to Bella.

Isabelle shares her research project on mental health and traffic safety that she conducted during her 8 week internship with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). She shares her main points from her research project and why it is important that we start to discuss how are mental health affects us while driving.

To contact Isabelle Boullier directly you can email her at    [email protected]

Mary Maguire is the Massachusetts spokes person for AAA Northeast and will be discussing drowsy driving and why it is important to get a healthy amount of sleep before getting behind the wheel. Mary will also be sharing her personal story about the night her son fell asleep at the wheel and survived a horrific car crash. Mary also shares how that incident changed her family's life and drove her to become even more passionate about educating others about traffic safety.

Sergeant Wesley H. Pugh-Pennington of the Rhode Island State Police discusses the DUI Traffic Safety Unit, his expertise as a Drug Recognition Expert (DRE) and why he is so passionate about traffic safety. He also shares how DREs can identify when an individual is driving under the influence of marijuana and educates our audience about what sort of penalties you will face if charged while driving high.

Robin Monica shares the painful story of her son, Jeffrey Monica, who at the age of 19 died in a car crash. By sharing Jeff's story she hopes that people will learn that the choices you make when getting behind the wheel impaired can change not only your life but the lives of everyone you know, forever. 

"I've seen fire and I've seen rain

~ James Taylor, 'Fire and Rain'

Alakananda & Armina were very shy when I first met them a few years ago but now they are anything but quiet when advocating for safer roads. These two are dedicated, driven and lead by example everyday. They are born leaders and I am honored to introduce you to Alakananda & Armina.

Traffic safety expert, Diana Gugliotta is the Senior Manager of Public Affairs at AAA Northeast. During this episode we discuss the Shifting Gears program, that teaches students about the dangers of driving while under the influence of marijuana. 

Resources Discussed In This Episode:

https://northeast.aaa.com/community

https://northeast.aaa.com/community/Shifting-Gears/Overview.html

www.youthdriven.org

Sydeny has been passionate about prevention work and traffic safety awareness since she was in middle school. Throughout this podcast Sydney shares her perspective about different traffic safety topics, including driving under the influence of marijuana, distracted driving and much more. She is a true student leader with a heart of gold and it is my honor to introduce you to Sydney.