The San Diego Chargers will present a $2,000 check to Impact Teen Drivers before Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders at Qualcomm Stadium, right after National Teen Safe Driving Week.
The check will be accepted by Martha Tessmer, whose 16-year-old son Donovan was killed in 2007 when he was a passenger in a speeding car driven by his girlfriend that struck a tree in the Central Valley unincorporated community of Madera Ranchos, according to a video posted on Impact Teen Drivers’ website.
The Chargers also have a video series of public announcements urging teens to drive carefully, on the Impact Teen Driver’s website. In one video, one of the team members, Darell Stuckey said, “You’re the last line of defense in your vehicle. You have to pay attention to the road ahead.”
Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15-to-20-year-olds in the U.S., with 2,614 teenage passenger vehicle drivers involved in fatal crashes in 2013, according to statistics provided by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“My son Donovan was a great athlete, scholar and person and made the right decisions 99 percent of the time,” Martha Tessmer said Tuesday at an event at Tierra Del Sol Middle School in Lakeside organized by the California Highway Patrol and Impact Teen Drivers. “The time he chose not to wear his seat belt and speak up in a car full of distractions cost him his life.”
Impact Teen Drivers was conceived by Jon Hamm, the CEO of the California Association of Highway Patrolmen, the union representing CHP officers, in response to the high frequency of crashes involving teenagers to which CHP officers responded.
The nonprofit organization seeks to provide awareness and education to teenagers, their parents and the rest of the public about all facets of responsible driving, with the goal of reducing the number of injuries and deaths suffered by teenagers as the result of distracted driving and poor decision making, according to its website.
City News Service contributed to this article.
