July, 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:

It’s hard to believe the year is half over! As we march into the third quarter of 2005, Safe Teen Driver is taking the summer to plan for the upcoming school year. We’re hoping to increase our presentation efforts in the state of Florida, where we’re also trying to create a presence at street racing car shows. Believe it or not, I’ve been checking out these events, known as “Tuner” shows, in conjunction with the Tampa Police Department. I’ve learned a lot talking with the kids from some of the street racing car clubs, and I’ve included some of my discoveries in a little piece in this e-newsletter. So keep reading.

Fundraising is still a priority, which brings me to a favorite subject of mine, St. Pete Beach Powerfest. Our first annual Powerfest was a blast. We had hot bikes and cool off shore powerboats competing for awards. We had wonderful food from Leverock’s, some great raffle prizes from our sponsors, and even a visit from Tampa Bay Buccaneer, Mike Alstott, and his wife Nicole. The weather was perfect. The event was a great success. And, I can hardly wait until next year.

Other plans for the rest of the year include working more closely with driver education classes. Our goal is to become much more focused on educating drivers before they get behind the wheel of a car. That way, we can stop problems before they occur and become even more effective in our mission.

There’s plenty more to follow. Just keep checking back to the Web site to see where we’re going and what we’re doing. I promise we’ll be busy.

Enjoy the rest of your summer.

Bruce

Safe Teen Driver Chapters
Florida
Tampa Bay
Pensacola

California
Coming in 2005

Hawaii
Honolulu

New York
Coming in 2005

Your Town??

The Truth about Teens at Street Racing Car Shows
Remember the famous line from the Godfather II – “Keep your friends close, but your enemies closer.” Well, I admit that I’ve spent time at street racing car shows over the last year. Now, before you go and brand me a traitor to the cause, let me share with you what I’ve learned.

Amazing as it may sound, most of the kids I talk to at these shows echo the same refrain. What is that refrain, you ask? It’s this: “We don’t really want to race on the streets. We want a place off the roads to race.”

Driving Information, Safety Tips & Statistics
Teen Tracking Devices
While your teen may protest like there’s no tomorrow, there’s no denying that, today, the latest gadgetry to hit the auto market spells relief for parents. Teen tracking devices, techno gizmos that record teens every move or track their high jinx in real-time, are in great demand. And while the younger set decries their loss of freedom, parents and the community support the use of these devices because automobile crashes are the number one cause of death among teens.

From the Cell Block
Real stories from young men and women convicted of killing another human being in a car crash.

As I sit here in my cell, I can only hope that the words that you are about to read minister to your heart and mind so that you do not make the same mistake I made. The mistake I am talking about is one of such gravity that the consequences have and will continue to be life changing and most certainly tragic.

The mistake is drinking and driving.

My name is Stephen Bromstrup. I am now nineteen years old and will not see the free world again until 2010. However, my poor choices have resulted in feelings far worse than the fact that I am serving a seven-year prison sentence. I am responsible for the deaths of two young girls. And, I have also led two families into a life of grief and suffering. Although 2010 seems far away, one day I will be released from prison, but not really free because I will live with the fact that two beautiful, innocent girls are gone because of my mistake.

Prison is a very difficult, harsh environment. It is a day-to-day struggle and a continuous battle mentally. Apart from the absence of family, friends, and loved ones, prison is saturated with crime, hate, racism, and gang-related activities. This is a whole new world for me and in the two years I have already served, I have yet to cope. I have been both mentally and physically hurt by my surroundings, and I do not wish this lifestyle on anybody.

Life is full of choices. The choices you make determine your destiny. I am writing this letter to tell you DO NOT FALL VICTIM TO YOUR CHOICES! When it comes to drinking and driving, and driving responsibly in general, make the right choice. You are not invincible as I once thought I was. And now, my life is filled with guilt and sorrow for the choices I have made.

I often think that it should have been me that died in that horrific accident.

And, I would trade my life for those two girls’ lives in an instant. However, Sara Stone and Alexandra Quaroni will not be coming back, and now I can only hope that my story will change the way people think about drinking and driving.

So please, be responsible when you drive. Do not gamble with life, because life is far too precious to be taken for granted.

Stephen Bromstrup

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 Pain

“We can rest contentedly in our sins and in our stupidities, and anyone who has watched gluttons shoveling down the most exquisite foods as if they did not know what they were eating will admit that we can ignore even pleasure. But pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our consciences, but shouts in our pains. It is his megaphone to rouse a deaf world.” C.S. Lewis

Healing Tip
”The Power of the Written Word”
From Bruce

At the end of these e-newsletters, I often include a suggestion for a book to read. I’ll share a little secret with you. It’s not because I think I need to fill space. It’s because reading was one of the first steps I took toward moving out of my grief-stricken state.

While talking is also important, for many people like myself, the ability to do so might be temporarily lost during the grief process. Now, I’m not talking about suddenly becoming mute, although there are probably some extreme psychological cases where that has happened. What I’m talking about is the inability to effectively communicate while being bombarded with feelings.

At the beginning of the grief process, feelings can overwhelm. The colossal pain, the biting rage, the web of confusion, all pummeling you at once. It can take time to sift through these emotions, for them to scale back enough so that you can talk. But one thing I found that I could do when I couldn’t talk about my feelings was read.

Reading opened the door to healing for me. It gave me a framework for what I was going through, a template that I could process and understand. It also comforted me because I was “in touch” with others who understood what I was going through, without experiencing the frustration of having to explain it all. Reading also provided me with information, tips for moving on, and things I could do to help myself during this agonizing and often lonely process.

During my grief, I read several self-help books. Some were faith-based, others professional in nature. But I gained some perspective and took another step toward healing with each one.
So, if you’re going through the excruciating process of grieving, please pick up a book. It can be about grief or something totally different. If you have a favorite book, keep it by your bedside and read some every day. Because even if it’s not grief-related, you may actually feel some enjoyment from it. And that too is a big step toward moving on from grief.

My best,
Bruce

Afterthoughts

“A good book should be an axe for the frozen sea within us.”
Kafka

Suggested Reading

Getting to the Other Side of Grief
Susan J. Zonnebelt-Smeenge and Robert De Vries