Driving too fast on gravel roads or turning one's head during a conversation are dangerous choices behind the wheel.
California High School seniors Matt Oerly and Allan Burger know that all too well.
That's why they are part of the student leadership promoting Pintos Drive Safe. The third-year program hosted by State Farm Insurance will donate $100,000 to 10 schools and $25,000 to 90 schools, divided by school size.
The school leadership class has been developing strategies to win the pot of free money for several months, said Library Media Specialist Janet Henley.
The message has been taken to social media in a YouTube video, as well as a Facebook page and Twitter account. Organizers have spoken to several community businesses and have distributed inserts for local church bulletins.
"It's a great program - they're not soliciting funds, just support," said Brandon Garber, Commerce Bank.
The local bank branch has nine employees, who will be encouraged to pledge each day, and they will send the information to neighboring branches and the Central Missouri regional office.
All of their students' efforts will culminate the ten days of Oct 15-24.
That's when anyone age 14 with an e-mail address may log into www.celebratemydrive.com, select California Mo. High School, answer two survey questions and commit to safe driving. The process may be repeated each day through the contest.
"We want to blow it out of the water," Henley said.
Winning schools will be selected by the number votes they receive.
Henley hopes for a minimum of 2,000 votes each day - that's about the equivalent of four votes for each high school student.
For even more voters, organizers have recruited FFA members, school employees and correctional officers in the Tipton area.
"It's similar to the Chad Stover deal, it unified the county and it's good cooperation," Burger said.
The hope is after California wins - which it will know for sure by December, then the California community can throw its support behind Tipton in the safe driving pledge campaign for the next school year.
Leaders are counting on the Pinto competitive streak to keep momentum going through the ten-day voting period.
Since Southern Boone High School won in the program's first year and Rock Bridge High School won last year, they've decided, "if they can do it, so can we."
What winnings may come will first be using to support a safe driving campaign at the school. The remainder will provide hardware upgrades to school technology, including i-Pads and laptops.
The recent bond issue passed overwhelmingly, thanks to community support. This campaign was a smart way to keep that cooperation going, said student Abby Strickfaden.
More teenagers die from car crashes than from any other cause, promotional material said. And the first year of driving is the most dangerous.
Oerly, vice president of the student body, found that out less than a month after he got his driver's license.
He was taking some friends home from a birthday party. It was after curfew for one of them, so Oerly admitted he was driving faster than he should have. He glanced over to his passenger during a conversation and missed a bend in the road. Their car rolled once but landed on the wheels.
"We were all okay, but I learned my lesson," Oerly said.
Burger made a poor choice on a Saturday morning, driving home from work. He was going too fast on a gravel road and following the person in front of him too closely. When that person braked suddenly, Burger did to sliding his vehicle sideways into a tree.
"I learned a car is not indestructible," Burger said. "It was a big wake-up call, you don't think you will be in an accident."
In addition to financial benefit to the school, the student leaders like Oerly and Burger hope the Pintos Drive Safe campaign prevents future wrecks or even deaths.
Burger agreed the senior class could set the new standard for the school.
"Even if we don't win any money, we hope the message gets across to develop safe driving habits," Oer