On Friday, April 3, the Forever Seventeen Foundation spoke at ADM High School. This organization came into existence in 2023 after two seventeen-year-old girls, Chloe Lucas and Kennedy Elskamp, were killed in a high-speed car crash in Dubuque on July 1, 2022. The organization was founded by the two girls’ parents, and the presentation they gave had an impact on many ADM students and staff, as they were prompted to think deeper about safe driving.
It’s no secret that many drivers, especially teenagers, often overestimate their driving abilities, thinking that they’re “invincible” and that, for some reason, they won’t get in a crash. This can even be observed from the small sample of people interviewed today; both students quickly responded that yes, they were good drivers, while the adults, on the other hand, gave more hesitant, honest answers.
This was certainly the case for Lucas and Elskamp, as they willingly got into a souped-up Camaro that accelerated up to 146 mph during their ride the night of the accident, and eventually crashed at approximately 1:21 a.m., due to a loss of control on a gravel road at 104 mph. While neither of the girls was driving the vehicle, they could have asked the driver to slow down or stop so they could exit, a point their parents thoroughly stressed. They elaborated on the concept that when someone gets in a car, they’re putting their life into the driver’s hands, so they need to be mindful about who they choose to ride with.
Going off of that, a common misconception that was addressed in the lecture is that speed isn’t a legitimate cause for a car crash. It seems that drivers of all ages have embraced the norm that “speeding is okay because everyone does it”. Speeding, however, is known to be one of the leading causes of car crashes, and according to the National Security Council, it becomes an increasingly influential factor as driving conditions become inadequate. Speeding on gravel (as was the case for Lucas and Elskamp) can raise the chances of getting in an accident by around 36%.
Distracted driving, while not as heavily emphasized by Forever Seventeen, is also a serious cause for crashes. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines distracted driving as “any activity that diverts attention from driving”, including texting, eating and changing your music or GPS. “We have the law, but I still see kids in our parking lot or driving around town that are looking down at their phone,” John Jones, ADM’s Special Education teacher and driver’s education instructor of 24 years, said.
The unfortunate truth is that the majority of young drivers have developed poor driving habits in which they engage in distracted driving every time they get in a car. Although distracted driving doesn’t always seem like a big deal, its effects can be fatal, as it killed about 3,208 and injured an estimated 315,167 Americans in 2024.
Ultimately, it’s clear that the Forever Seventeen Foundation gave ADM’s students some deep topics to think about and reflect on, fulfilling their mission to “transform loss into lasting impact.”
Officer Monte Keller, ADM’s Student Resource Officer since 2002, did a sufficient job summing up the emotional toll of the presentation. “It shows you how fragile life really is … in a matter of seconds, when someone makes a bad choice, it can not only change their life, but somebody else’s,” Keller said.
