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January, 2005
The
High Road
Safe Teen Driver's Quarterly Online Newsletter
From Bruce
A personal message from Bruce Murakami, Founder
and President of Safe Teen Driver
Welcome Friends:
This inaugural edition of The
High Road, Safe Teen Driver’s quarterly
newsletter, has been in the works for some time, and
we’re pleased to kick it off with the New Year.
Our goal is to offer information and inspiration and
to provide a forum for feedback. We want to continue
to hear from you, so please keep the letters and stories
coming!
2004 has been a tremendous
year for us, so take a minute and read the recap of
what the organization has done this past year and
what we can now do for you and your community. Then,
enjoy the rest of the tips, information, and resources
available through the remainder of the newsletter.
All the best for a happy, healthy,
and safe New Year!
Bruce
Recap of 2004
This past year, Safe Teen Driver
grew by leaps and bounds, starting with several chapters
that formed from coast to coast (check the list below).
This occurred with little or no effort invested in
promoting the development of local chapters. So, throughout
2005, Safe Teen Driver will make it a priority to
work with interested citizens, just like you, to bring
Safe Teen Driver to your city. Safe Teen Driver will
produce and provide organizational information and
offer support, materials, and ideas so you can develop
your own successful Safe Teen Driver. If you or anyone
you know would like to develop a local chapter, please
contact our offices at 727-420-7937 or visit the Web
site at www.safeteendriver.org.
The organization also received
its 501(3)(C) nonprofit status during 2004, enabling
the Safe Teen Driver to accept contributions for the
first time. (Please click
here to visit our donor link on the Safe Teen
Driver Web site.) Still, the majority of funding comes
directly from Bruce Murakami.
Safe Teen Driver also developed
a promotional CD for fundraising and informational
purposes. Featuring Bruce and Justin’s stories,
the CD captures the heart and soul of Safe Teen Driver
and provides the organization with a way to reach
donors. The CD is available at Safe Teen Driver.
Bruce Murakami, Justin Cabezas,
and Safe Teen Driver were featured several times in
the media including articles in the St. Petersburg
Times, Applause! Magazine, local news stations
and national talk shows (The John Walsh Show, February
2004)
And as always, Safe Teen Driver
traveled to more than twenty high schools, churches,
and community organizations to give presentations.
From these presentations, Safe Teen Driver received
hundreds of letters. Bruce has selected a couple of
very powerful letters to share with you here in this
newsletter. To read more or to send a letter to Bruce,
go to the Safe Teen Driver Web
site.
All in all, it was quite a
year for this new organization!
2004 Events:
Banner Project
Hawaii Event
CTST Member
Pre-Prom assemblies
Safe Teen Driver
Chapters
Florida
Tampa Bay
Pensacola
California
Coming in 2005
Hawaii
Honolulu
New York
Coming in 2005
Your Town??
Chapter Profile:
Pensacola, FL
Renee Napier spearheads the
Pensacola chapter of Safe Teen Driver with passion,
intensity, and a sense of humor. This past year, Renee
traveled throughout the state of Florida bringing
the Safe Teen Driver message to more than 4000 students.
Sharing her own story of tragedy, the deaths of her
daughter and her daughter’s best friend on May
11, 2002, Renee worked hand-in-hand with Bruce and
Justin talking with teens and driving home the importance
of making responsible choices on the road and in life.
In addition to talking and working with thousands
of students, Renee has also been instrumental in promoting
Safe Teen Driver, fundraising for the organization,
and lending support to others in need.
On May 11, 2002, Renee’s
twenty-year-old daughter, Meagan, and her twenty-year-old
best friend, Lisa, were killed by a drunk driver.
A year and half later, in November 2003, Renee met
Bruce and instantly knew that God had brought them
together for a wonderful purpose. She could hardly
wait to begin working with Bruce, and although it
took her months to collect her thoughts and decide
what her message would be, when she took the floor
on March 29, 2004 at Father Lopez Catholic School
in Daytona, she left the audience with this strong,
thought-provoking message: Always have a plan!!!
Driving Safety Tips
Ring in the New Year
with Cell Phone Safety
These days, it’s staggering
to think of the number of teenagers who carry cell
phones. And it’s even more frightening to think
about how many of those teens use their cell phones
while driving a car. Cell phone use while driving
has been proven to distract all ages of drivers
and to lead to potentially fatal car accidents. So
imagine how that affects teens, who have just learned
to drive and who are often easily distracted to begin
with!
What about hands-free cell
phones? According to a study funded by the AAA Foundation
for Traffic Safety, hands-free units are NOT safer.
Why? Because it’s the conversation and the amount
of concentration on the conversation that distracts
the driver. (See www.aaapublicaffairs.com
for more information.)
So what’s the best way
to use your cell phone in the car? Pull over!
Statistics
The National Highway Traffic
and Safety Administration (NHTSA) reports that 8,666
people died in car crashes involving a teen driver
in 2003. That figure accounts for about 20 percent
of all traffic deaths.
Check the following link for
some more information and statistics regarding teen
drivers from the US Department of Transportation,
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/pdf/nrd-
30/NCSA/TSF2003/809774.pdf
From the Cell
Block
Real stories about what life is like from men
and women convicted of killing another human being
in a car crash.
From the Cell Block
My name is John Templeton Jr.,
and two years ago I made a decision that drastically
changed my life. On November 23, 2002, I chose to
drink and get behind the wheel. I was 19 years old
and thought I was invincible. I never imagined in
my wildest dreams that that night while in the emergency
room, I would be told that I had killed a young woman.
After learning what had happened,
I felt completely empty. Hours earlier, a young, beautiful
woman had been laughing, walking and living life.
Now, because of my selfish act, she was gone. Now
because of my choices, her parents, family, and friends
would be without their loved one. Now, because of
what I did, I would be charged DUI Manslaughter and
face fifteen years in prison.
The year after the crash was
the toughest. I was depressed, and it added to the
incredible pain my family was already experiencing.
I found it very difficult to continue college, and
it was hard to do anything normal. All I could do
was think of the upcoming court date and what was
going to happen to me. Any time I felt joy or found
myself laughing, I felt guilty. I felt that I shouldn’t
be allowed to laugh or enjoy myself, even for a couple
of minutes. .
The day I was sentenced was one of the most frightening
days in my life. I pled guilty and I was blessed with
forgiveness for something unforgivable. The judge
sentenced me to a year behind bars, followed by two
years of house arrest and eleven years probation.
I have only been out for a month, but jail was an
experience I will never forget. Once inside that jail,
I had no rights. I went from being a college student
to an inmate. It was a place that bred violence and
hatred, and I always had to be on guard and watch
my back. It was hard to trust anybody, and it was
extremely lonely. It was difficult to see my mother
through a T.V. screen during visitation, especially
when I always saw her tears.
My decision to drink and drive
has hurt so many people. Every day is a reminder of
the life I have taken, and I’ll live with that
pain forever. I have received so much support from
so many, and I owe a lot to my family and so many
others. I would like to thank Mr. Murakami again for
his support and for allowing me to be part of Safe
Teen Driver. By showing me that good can come from
something so tragic, he has inspired me to turn my
experience into something positive.
Road Maps
A special section dedicated to helping all those who’ve
suffered any kind of loss. Here you’ll find
peace, solace and support to help you move forward
with your life. We’ll offer tips, advice, information,
and inspiration from Bruce and experts on grief, loss,
and the healing process.
On Grief
Grief is a
tidal wave that over takes you,
smashes down upon you with unimaginable force,
sweeps you up into its darkness,
where you tumble and crash against unidentifiable
surfaces,
only to be thrown out on an unknown beach, bruised,
reshaped...
Grief will make a new person out of you,
if it doesn't kill you in the making.
Stephanie
Ericsson
From Companion Through the Darkness: Inner Dialogues
on Grief
Grief Tip
Your "Healing Place"
From Bruce
Over and over again, people
ask me how I got through the most devastating tragedy
in my life: the loss of my beloved wife and daughter.
For a long time, I couldn’t really answer that
question. But after time passed and I looked back
on my experience, I began to see grief more as a dark,
cold, scary tunnel that I went through, rather than
as the black void that I thought I was in at the time.
I began to recognize several things that I did that
helped me through the process of grief. Here, in this
section of the newsletter, I will personally share
with you what I’ve learned. Hopefully, some
of my experiences can help you with yours.
When I look back on that horrible
point in my life, I can now, objectively look at what
I consciously and unconsciously did that put me on
the road to healing. One of the first things was finding
my “healing place.” For me, that was the
water. So, shortly after the deaths of Cindy and Chelsea,
I packed up and moved to the beach.
In retrospect, it seems rather
strange, because during that time, I was so devoid
of feeling anything but intense pain or total numbness.
I sleepwalked through my life like a zombie, a lost
zombie at that. Yet, somehow, at a very visceral level,
I knew I needed to be near water -- that water symbolized
healing, renewal, and peace. I couldn’t articulate
these thoughts; I just felt them somewhere deep inside.
So, I moved to the beach, and I spent every hour of
every day sitting on the beach or swimming through
the water or just soaking up the sun. And it was the
first thing I did for myself that felt anywhere near
good.
Now, I understand how important
it was for me to have a safe, peaceful, healing place.
I know I can’t speak for everyone going through
this process because everyone’s experience is
different. But I can tell you, it helped me. So, give
it a try.
Find or make a space that is
totally yours. A place that’s safe and comfortable.
It can be anywhere. Inside or outside. Empty or full.
An entire room or just a corner of a room. Then bring
what you need to that space. A blanket, music, candles,
sunglasses (if you’re outside like me), whatever.
Then spend time there, all the time you need to heal.
And make sure that others know that it’s your
space. If nothing else, at least you will feel like
you have somewhere to go with your thoughts.
And remember, all tunnels have
another side. You will come out of it.
My best,
Bruce
Afterthoughts
Loss changes our vision of
life; it can give birth to deeper self-awareness and
open our heart to greater love for other people and
for God. The Bible, Galatians 6:2.
Recommended reading
Faith Quake by Doug
Herman
A Grace Disguised How the
Soul Grows through Loss by Gerald L. Sittser
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list and receive our quarterly newsletters via email,
click here.
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