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According to AAA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, car crashes are the leading cause of death of people ages 3-34. To underscore the importance of the “Rules of the Road,” the MSBA Public Awareness Committee (PAC), in partnership with the Citizenship Law-Related Education Program (CLREP), hosted more than 200 students and teachers from all over the state for the 2011 Law Day Conference on Tuesday, June 17, 2011, at the Sheppard Pratt Conference Center in Baltimore.
“In light of all the new legislation about no texting while driving and no cell phone use, we felt this was a timely topic for the students,” said PAC Chair Alice Chong.
The conference allowed students and teachers an opportunity to directly connect with attorneys, judges, police officers, shock trauma nurses and a state delegate on the importance of obeying the rules of the road.
MSBA President Thomas D. Murphy opened the program by welcoming the attendees. After relating the story of a tragic accident that recently occurred in his native Montgomery County, Murphy urged the students to “please listen carefully, so that you do not make the same mistake that could change lives, families, forever.”
Next, Chief Judge Robert M. Bell, Court of Appeals of Maryland, delivered the keynote address, encouraging students to think about being responsible drivers. “What really matters is the rule of law, respect for the law, respect for those others on the road, respect for yourself, and the end result will be the saving of lives,” he said.
Following the opening remarks, students attended a variety of intriguing and informative sessions, including one in which nurses from the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center provided a glimpse of the immediate aftermath of a crash in the hope that their chilling stories might help the students make positive choices in their lives.
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Yvette Diamond and Kathleen Chapman screened the award-winning documentary Branded DUI, which describes the process that a DUI offender goes through via the testimonials of 11 young people arrested for drunk driving. The film emphasizes such negative repercussions as jail time, probation and missing out on school and athletic activities, among other things.
State Delegate Jon S. Cardin spoke to students on the process of passing legislation that deals with safety on the roadways. He gave an overview of past, present and future legislation that could affect the students. Offering perspective from the executive branch of government, officers from the Maryland State Police and Montgomery County Police spoke to attendees on “MD State Police Enforcement & Investigation” and “Drinking, Driving & Distraction: A Fatal Combination,”respectively.
Following lunch, the presenters fielded questions from students and teachers in an open panel discussion. Afterward, a young man named Kyle offered harrowing firsthand testimonial on the effects of drunk driving. A promising high school athlete, Kyle had been looking forward to college up until the night of his tragic auto accident; instead, he spent the next seven years (and counting) engaged in physical and speech therapy. His moving, personal story provided a reality check for both the students and adults who listened to it.
Finally, attendees had the opportunity to view the video submissions for the 2011 MSBA Video Contest and vote for their favorites in the People’s Choice Awards. (See the winning videos at www.msba.org/media/videocontest/.)
“One of the things that was really great was that we had such a cross-section [of presenters],” said Ellery “Rick” Miller, Executive Director of CLREP. “We had police officers, we had attorneys, we had judges, we had nurses from Shock Trauma and we had a consistent message.”
Planning for the Law Day program and video contest began last July, with the video contest running from January through April. This is the 14th year of the Law Day program, and the third year the program included a video contest.
