April showers, May flowers & a deadly pastime

For many teens mudding has become an American pastime. It’s relatively cheap—all you need is a truck, a full tank of gas, some rain and an open field and you’ve got yourself a cure for the rainy-day blues, not to mention entertainment for the afternoon. And it’s fun, right? Wrong. That fun can turn into tragedy in the blink of an eye.

For two teens in Whitney, Texas, a day of mudding turned fatal when their truck went off a cliff into Lake Whitney. The two teens, 16-year-old Brandon Shelton and driver 19-year-old Zack Stout, fell from the 300 foot lookout point and drowned in the lake.

So what can you do to make sure stuff like this won’t happen to you or your friends?

• Don’t go mudding. It’s not safe and it’s not smart, so don’t do it.
• If your friends say they are going, suggest something to do instead. If it’s a rainy day you could stay inside and play video games or go to the movies.
• If you really want to play in the mud, play mud football or soccer.
• If your friends still aren’t convinced, tell them it’s dangerous and not a good idea. Peer pressure works.

Positive peer pressure can be your greatest ally, and is even more effective when coupled with peer-to-peer driver safety programs like Teens in the Driver Seat. For more rainy season safety tips, check out t-driver.com.