Student named ambassador in campaign against distracted driving - Houston weather, traffic, news | FOX 26 | MyFoxHouston

You hear about the dangers of distracted driving all the time, but a local student is showing how distractions you could avoid while behind the wheel could change your life.

Milstead Automotive in Spring recently held a contest for high school seniors to submit their own anti-distracted driving video. This year's selected winner, Carly Winsmann of Oak Ridge High School is now the Video Ambassador for Milstead and her peer-to-peer campaign illustrates a compelling reason why we should avoid distractions while behind the wheel.

"I wanted to show an everyday situation that high school kids could relate to … It's a quick:  ‘I'm going to the mall, I'm late and just like that you're in an accident."

Winsmann says distractions like cell phones are a big deal. 

"It affects high school students everyday.  You're in the parking lot, someone looks down and texts and ‘boom' … We have to wait another hour.  It's everyday that they're in some sort of accident."

The President of Milstead Automotive in Spring, Amy Milstead, says she sees vehicles towed into their collision lot everyday and can't help but think some of these wrecks could have been avoided if drivers would pay more attention while driving.  She says this scholarship contest is particularly important for students just learning to drive.

"Kids are getting cars for graduation and they just don't realize the dangers while behind the wheel.  They could be eating, they could be texting and there's so many kids that could be protected if they would just take some precautions behind the wheel.  In our business, safety is everything to us.  We wanted to put a contest out there so the kids could see it from their own influence level if we can save one life that makes everything better."

On the Web:

View Carly Winsmann's video -- http://autorepair.milsteadautomotive.com/teen-video-ambassador.php