St Joseph teens have the chance to win a car in an annual safe driving campaign.

The “I’m A Safe Driver” program kicks off its sixth year at high school registration events.

MoDOT, along with the St Joseph Police Department sponsor the event to educate teen drivers and keep the driving safely, according to officer Brendan McGinnis.

“We are excited to work on this program that helps save lives on our roads,” McGinnis said.  “Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for people 15 to 20 years old, and this program has proven to help educate young drivers and keep them driving safely.”

Students pledge to drive responsibly and can win monthly prizes throughout the school year. At the end of the year, all the students with a clean driving record have a chance to win a car.

The program has a proven track record. Tin the first year, 2002, there were 651 drivers in the target age group involved in crashes in St. Joseph. In 2010, there were 432, a decrease of 33.6 percent.

 Additional information about the “I’m a Safe Driver” program can be found on the St. Joseph Police Department’s website at http://www.stjoepd.info/safedriver.pdf.