Each year, thousands of high school students across New York State look forward to attending their prom and graduation ceremony. For parents, siblings, educators, and the community, these memorable moments become meaningless when a child dies in a car crash. In an effort to reduce these tragedies, the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee (GTSC) has launched the “No Empty Chair” educational campaign designed to improve young driver safety and awareness. The theme is to symbolize the missing high school senior on graduation day. The City of Port Jervis' Police Department has received a grant from the GTSC which will allow officers to participate in the 2023 “No Empty Chair” Teen Driver Safety Initiative during the week of April 24, 2023 – April 28th. Police patrols will focus on a different traffic safety threat each day of that week including cell phone use and texting while driving, speeding in school zones, seat belts and child restraints, graduated driver license provisions and underage drinking, and impaired driving in the vicinity of schools and roadways commonly traversed by high school students.
As the end of the school year is approaching, the school district and the police department are encouraging parents, guardians, and others to please take the time to speak with their teenagers about safe and responsible driving behaviors, including while being a passenger.
The school district and the city police department wish our students the best of success in their academic pursuits and a safe and healthy future. We will continue to encourage them to make smart decisions, don’t drink and drive or get into a car with a driver who has been drinking, and most importantly, drive carefully and safely in order to ensure the bright futures they have ahead of them.