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Richmond Grade 12s to keep making videos after placing second in dry grad challenge

It could be you in that uncomfortable position of having to take a friend's keys away at a house party, but six Hugh McRoberts secondary students say do it anyway.

It could be you in that uncomfortable position of having to take a friend's keys away at a house party, but six Hugh McRoberts secondary students say do it anyway.

"Nobody wants to be in that position, but somebody has to do it," said 17-year-old Som Ghosh, co-producer in the group's anti-impaired driving video. "Because not only will it affect your life, but also the lives of other people who weren't even involved."

The school's Grade 12 students now have an extra $2,000 for their grad celebration after their video won second place in British Columbia Automobile Association's (BCAA) second annual Dry Grad video challenge.

"It felt really good to place," said Ghosh. "At first, it was about the prize, but then it became more important to inform other students. The prize just reassured us that we got the message out."

Ghosh, with friends Kevin Abad, Cam Dowle, Patrick Fleming, 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. It then rewinds to show the safer option of the host taking the friend's keys and convincing him to take a cab.

Without having personal experiences for inspiration, the team drew from what they've seen in the media.

"The reality is you can't stop teens from drinking," said Ghosh. "But you can at least make sure they don't drive afterwards."

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. which received $4,000; New Westminster secondary got $1,000 for third place.

"It was quite the challenge to choose winners," said one of the judges, Allan Lamb, president and chief operating officer of BCAA Road Safety Foundation. "They were all excellent, there wasn't much difference between the top and the bottom."

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 most common situation involves a young "risk-taking" male driver with a young female in the passenger seat, said Lamb.

But in recent years, there has been an increase in the amount of young female drivers with "alarmingly high" blood alcohol levels, though the majority of incidents are still amongst young male drivers, Lamb added.

"One speculation on the increase involves media influence and the whole Paris Hilton, bad girl image," said Lamb. "But that's only a theory."

As for the six McRoberts' students, Ghosh said they'll keep making more videos - the group's first video about anti-gang involvement aired on CBC last year for the Teens Against Gangs video contest.

"A message is best presented from peers," said Ghosh. "We want to keep making a strong impact."

Visit h to view the top three videos, Hugh McRoberts' being the second option, "It Could Be You."