Memorial Day kicks off '100 Deadliest Days' for Teen Drivers

TAMPA, Fla. — Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer, but it also marks the deadliest time of year for Florida teens. The state is behind an awareness campaign called “100 Deadliest Days” to encourage young drivers to know the rules of the road and never drive drunk.

One woman made it her mission to get this message across. Forty years ago, Josie DiStefano Palomino was killed by a teenage drunk driver. Her youngest sister, Linda Unfried, remembers that she had just left their parents' 55th wedding anniversary party in Tampa.

“She had a heart of gold,” Unfried recalls. “She would do anything for anyone.”

She made it her mission to honor Josie through action, quickly launching the first chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Driving in the Bay Area.

“Maybe this story will touch someone’s heart,” she said. “They won't [drink and drive.]»

Memorial Day kicks off the “100 Deadliest Days” for teen drivers from now until Labor Day.

According to Florida Highway and Motor Vehicles, there were nearly 20,000 crashes involving teen drivers during the same period last year, including 68 fatal crashes that killed 83 people.

“It is likely that teen drivers are speeding and driving distracted,” said Col. Gary Howze of the Florida Highway Patrol.

Even before Memorial Day, Linda is shocked to learn that more than 50 drunk driving arrests took place in Hillsborough and Tampa last weekend.

“It made me cry to think that my children, my grandchildren, my great-granddaughter, they're all on these highways,” Unfried said.

With Linda's life mission now passed on to future generations, she takes comfort in knowing that her sister's legacy lives on through the No Drunk Driving Pledge offered to Hillsborough County middle school students:

We still remember this day when life took another,

As it left those close to him dismayed. Now we make a commitment.

We have come together to take a stand, to ensure that lives are not taken unjustly from this earth.

And together we came up with a plan. Now we make a commitment.

We're here to stop those who drive under the influence, so those who are close to them don't have to say goodbye.

We're here, so remember her life, and now we're taking Josie's pledge.

We still remember that day when one person's life took another's.

Hoping Josie touches a life,

We are here to stop those who drive under the influence, to save another,

So those who are close don't have to say goodbye.