It might make you feel uncomfortable to take a drunk friend's keys away at a house party. But six Hugh McRoberts secondary students say, do it anyway.
"Nobody wants to be in that position, but somebody has to do it," said 17-year-old Som Ghosh, co-producer of the group's anti-impaired driving video. "Because, not only will it affect your life, but also the lives of other people who weren't even involved."
The school's Grade 12 students now have an extra $2,000 for their grad celebration after their video won second place in British Columbia Automobile Association's (BCAA) second annual Dry Grad video challenge.
"It felt really good to place," said Ghosh. "At first, it was about the prize, but then it became more important to inform other students. The prize just reassured us that we got the message out."
Ghosh, with friends Kevin Abad, Cam Dowle, Patrick Fleming, Kevin Mang and Liam Slade produced It Could Be You, a video depicting a house party ending in tragedy after a friend decides to drive home drunk. It then rewinds to show the safer option of the host taking the friend's keys and convincing him to take a cab.
Without having personal experiences for inspiration, the team drew from what they've seen in the media.
"The reality is you can't stop teens from drinking," said Ghosh. "But you can at least make sure they don't drive afterwards."
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