How It Began....

Choices 301 is the result of Ed Frank, Jr. wanting to give something back to the community. One of Ed's hobbies was stock car racing. He wanted to bring a message to young people that speed was proper for the racetrack, but not our highways. He also wanted to stress the importance of seat belt use. He used his stock car as a visual tool to demonstrate the 5-point restraint seat belt system. Ed would have been proud to see how his idea has grown into the program it is today. The Choices 301 program is dedicated to the memory of our son. Ed and Shirley Frank

Program Goals

To raise awareness in both our youth and adults regarding the importance of safe driving-- use of seat and lap belts, observance of proper speed limits, and especially the need for abstinence of alcohol and other drugs when operating motor vehicles.

Choices 301 Inc.

The Choices 301, Inc. program consists of a Mobile Traffic Safety Awareness Exhibit and
display, which focuses on the dangers of Driving While Intoxicated (DWl), Aggressive/Extreme Driving and the crashes, injuries and deaths which can and do result from one poor choice or bad decision.

The program takes a multi-faceted approach aimed at educating the public about the realities and dangers of DWl, aggressive and extreme driving behavior and the failure to utilize the proper passenger restraint devices in motor vehicles.

The program has four (4) mobile displays associated with it:

» Gallery type display utilizing timelines of actual crashes, including personal effects and photographs of the victims as well as the vehicles involved, to depict the consequences related to an alcohol related crash. A video looped presentation stresses the need to make good, positive choices in life and to avoid mistakes made by the individuals whose lives are highlighted by the video. The display also includes a mock jail cell and open coffin with a mirror at the head to suggest just how easily this could happen to any of us.

» Burned out vehicle on a flatbed trailer-actual vehicle involved in an aggressive/extreme driving crash involving a local extreme driver and a new, inexperienced driver. This display highlights the dangers faced by all of us as the issue of extreme/aggressive driving becomes more and more prevalent in our society today.

»301 Race Car-The 301 Race Car and trailer are the main components of the Passenger Restraint Awareness Program. The car, utilizing a five-point restraint system, shows young and old alike the importance of being belted in at all times by stressing the importance of these types of systems in saving lives not only on racetracks but on our local roads as well. This display, with its NASCAR type theme and paint scheme, draws a very diverse group of people to it and highlights safety awareness in a more realistic and exciting way.

»The Golf Cart is the newest addition to the Choices 301, Inc. DWI Awareness Program. One of the functions of the cart is to provide the operator with a simulated impaired driving experience. This is accomplished with the use of "Fatal Vision Goggles." The goggles allow the operator of the cart to experience the difference between normal and impaired driving conditions. Licensed operators navigate a specially designed course to test their driving skills, both with and without the Fatal Vision Goggles. The cart is equipped with a remote control devise, allowing it to be stopped in case of an emergency. Other equipment on the cart include seatbelts, headlights, directional signals, roll bar and taillights. All the equipment listed illustrates the need for safe driving practices.

These displays show the consequences of bad decisions... .from possible jail time to death. The accidents depicted involve real, local people whose lives have either ended abruptly or been forever changed by driving while intoxicated, speed and/or aggressive driving.

Among other things, CHOICES 301, Inc. works in conjunction with the Albany County STOP-DWl Program to share this valuable awareness program with the high schools and colleges in the capital region in an effort to decrease the likelihood that our youth will make poor decisions that can have lifelong consequences