January 30, 2023
Welcome
We're so glad you're here.
Here at DRIVE, our mission is to educate and empower Gen Z people to make transportation safer for everybody.
More specifically, we're fighting to end gendered discrimination in the Department of Transportation's New Car Assessment program while giving young people the knowledge and resources to advocate for themselves and their community.
Why Gen Z, you might ask. Well, for two big reasons and a lot more small ones.
First, our generation is incredibly politically active. Historically high midterm turnout, TikTok education, organizing mass protests, the success of activists like Greta Thunberg, Malala Yousafzai, Naomi Osaka, the Parkland students, and many, many, many more, prove that we are not afraid to stand up for justice. However, data show many of us wish we were better informed about our elections. As Millennials and Gen Z are set to be the largest voting bloc in 2024, it's up to us to learn how to advocate for ourselves.
Second, Gen Z is the most affected by transportation safety. The risk of crashes among people aged 16 to 19 is higher than any other age group, and people 16 to 24 years old are less likely to wear seatbelts than every other age group. Road traffic injuries have been the leading cause of death for people between ages 5 and 29 for over 10 years.
We have the right to advocate for ourselves. We are empowered, and we are learning. We are the most likely to be hurt and killed by cars that aren't made to protect us. We are fighting to end injustice where it exists, together.
All that is to say: thank you for coming, and we can't wait to get started.
We have a lot of important information to share, starting with a deeper dive into the issue on the THE FIGHT tab of our site. There is a lot more info coming, and we're hoping this newsletter will serve as a space to share updates, upcoming events, successful campaigns, highlight our rockstar volunteers, and more.
While we don't launch officially until March 8th, we hope you will use our site to learn more about the problem and our plan to solve it. in the meantime, we hope you'll follow our Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter.
If you have ideas or want to join the team, please send an email to [email protected].
more soon!
MWK