YOVASO, or Youth of Virginia Speak Out About Traffic Safety, had a simple message this year—”Don’t be a dumdum, BUCKLE UP!”

The reasons for this are simple and sobering. According to data from the Highway Safety Office of the Virginia DMV, in 2024, 61% of the teens killed in crashes across Virginia were not wearing their seatbelts, and 64% of the fatal crashes involving teen drivers were speed related.

Thus, the Drive for Change: Buckle Up & Slow Down Project was born. Running from September 15 to November 14 of last year, it was designed to give schools and youth groups the time they needed to come up with and take part in activities at the pace they desired. Those that took part got free educational materials on the importance of seatbelts and preventing speeding.

It just so happens that the kids at Montross Middle School didn’t just take part in the fall project—they walked away from it with an award for first place in their division.

This announcement came at the end of a long trail of celebrations on the evening of March 2, as inclement weather and scheduling troubles in February pushed the School Board’s meeting for that month to March.

Ms. Crim and Deputy Pitts, the school resource officer stationed at Montross Middle School, gave an explanation of what was going on.

“The Buckle Up and Slow Down project was an initiative designed to empower youth and teens to take the lead and create positive change in their schools and communities when it comes to young driver and passenger safety,” Pitts explained. “Our students focused on two key areas: encouraging everyone to buckle up at all times and promoting safer driving habits by slowing down.”

According to Pitts, the project allows students to not only raise awareness of safety issues such as these but also build leadership skills that have “made a real difference in the students’ community.”

The students explained it all began with brainstorming ideas with Crim for a parade float for the Montross Fall Festival. Crim then went into greater detail.

“For the competition, we had to not only do a community project, but many projects that would help get the message out to our students and community,” she stated. “The students gave a starting and ending survey on seat belt safety, and the YOVASO banner was at sporting and community events.”

The students also passed out homemade notes with Dum-Dum lollipops as well as put together safety bags for Halloween, and colored a massive safety poster. Lastly, students took part in the morning announcements at Montross Middle School.

So what were the stats in the end? Quite staggering, it turns out. Over 72 schools and youth groups were involved statewide. Over 60,000 educational materials were distributed, and there was an average 5% increase in seat belt usage. Montross Middle School nearly tripled that at 14%, and beat Cave Spring Middle School and William Byrd Middle School for the top spot.

This is not the end, however, as the spring competition will be firing up soon. A number of other small contests have also been taking place, including a yoga jingle contest as well as a sort of “mystery video” highlighting traffic safety, passenger rights, and making smart choices behind the wheel.

Their submission was made on the first of March and soon the decision will be made to see if the school racks up yet another win.

“It’s been awesome,” Crim stated. “The kids are up for another challenge this spring. They’re going to promote seat belt safety again too. Hopefully we can get you all to help us out this spring, and possibly do another activity. Thank you all.”