Grade 12 students at Hugh McRoberts secondary have an extra $2,000 for their grad celebration after winning second place in British Columbia Automobile Association’s (BCAA) second annual Dry Grad Video Challenge.

Together, Kevin Abad, Cam Dowle, Patrick Fleming, Som Ghosh, 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.

BCAA challenged Grade 12 students across B.C. and the Yukon to make anti-impaired driving videos warning fellow teens about the dangers of driving when under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

After receiving 48 videos last fall, the panel of judges posted the top five online for public voting, garnering over 23,000 views on YouTube and 6,500 online votes, collectively.

First place went to George Elliot secondary in Oyama, B.C. who received $4,000, with New Westminster secondary getting $1,000 for third place.

“We want to empower teens to make responsible driving choices and encourage them to support one another,” says Tim Condon, BCAA President and CEO.

“By providing young people a platform to speak to their peers, we’re hoping the message that alcohol, drugs and driving don’t mix, resonates amongst teens and, any adults for that matter, who watch these powerful videos.”

Teen drivers between 16 and 20 years old account for the second highest number of all alcohol-related crashes, behind those between 21 and 25 years old, according to the latest B.C. Traffic Collision statistics.

The panel of judges included Allan Lamb, president and chief operating officer, BCAA Road Safety Foundation; Laurel Middelaer, road and public safety advocate, Alexa’s Bus; Connie Monk, program head, BCIT Broadcast and Online Journalism and news director, Evolution 107.9 FM; Chris Palliser, radio host, The Beat 94.5 FM; Sergeant Peter Thiessen, senior media relations officer, RCMP Lower Mainland District Regional Police Service; and Heidi Worthington, senior vice president and chief marketing officer, BCAA.

Visit http://www.bcaa.com/drygrad to view the top three videos, Hugh McRoberts’ being the second option, “It Could Be You.”