Traffic crashes are the number one killer of teens in Florida, so Tuesday, high schools across Florida took part in a "white out" to change that.
It was a message that was delivered to South Florida students by the Florida Highway Patrol.
Hundreds of students listened to speakers at Coral Glades High School in Coral Springs - all of them with reasons why distracted driving is deadly, but it was Emily Slosberg's story that resonated with the teens. She talked about the night she and eight others squeezed into a Honda Civic. It was Feb. 23, 1996.
"He lost control of the car and we went straight on into another car," Slosberg said. "Of the seven of us in the back, five were dead - including my twin sister."
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Sgt. Mark Wysocky with the FHP said it's hearing stories like those, and other demonstrations, that make young people think.
"We talk about roll over crashes, but when they see a body being pulled out of a car, I think it makes a difference," Sgt. Wysocky said.
One of the demonstrations involved "drunk goggles," where students had the chance to walk a line while wearing the goggles that make you 'see' as if your blood alcohol level was more than twice over the legal limit.
Students also learned about car safety, looked at pictures of teen crashes and read poems.
They also heard another story of a South Florida teen, Anthony Almonte, who died on the night of his homecoming in 2009 after the car he was riding in backed up into a canal.
"It was only 32 days from Anthony's 17th birthday," his mother Donna Uzzi told students.
Holding back tears, his sister Rachel Hartman added, "Anthony's life was taken because of one bad choice."
