Last Friday, Mr. Longo and three members of SADD attended the Safe Driving Competition for Allegheny County. Luke Evankovich, Christian Gianetti, and yours truly, Davis Creach, met with Mr. Longo early before school and headed out to Oakdale, PA with an insatiable hunger for a trophy.

The competition was held at Pittsburgh Technical College and consisted of three challenges: driving evaluation, written test, and perception test. Each tested the contestants’ ability to identify traffic situations, comprehend/follow the rules of the road, and safely and efficiently drive a vehicle.

In addition to competing, members of the Pitt Ohio Supply Chain assisted in educating the teen drivers on the dangers of distracted and careless driving, particularly near trucks on the highway. The company supplied one of their own rigs and set up a typical highway scenario with a car directly behind the truck’s freight and one on each side of the truck. Students had the opportunity to step up and into the driver’s seat and see exactly was a trucker sees on any given day.  It had a profound impact on all the competitors.

“It was really eye-opening to sit in the big rig,” Christian Gianetti said. “I always believed that because they were so big and had large mirrors they could see more than my little car could. To my amazement, it is quite the opposite.”

Gianetti also noted that his respect for truckers has significantly increased after sitting in the rig, an opinion that many other students shared after climbing into the driver’s seat.

As the competition came to an end and contestants settled down for lunch, officers from the Allegheny County Police Department reviewed test answers and gave advice on how to be safe on the roads.  Then the tension rose dramatically.

One of the coordinators stepped on stage and began to announce the places for individual competition. Out of around 35 students, NASH senior Luke Evankovich took first place and had a beautiful gold medal to match.

“It was amazing,” said Evankovich on his win. “I wasn’t expecting to win and then when I found out I was getting $1,000 too, I was blown away. My friends and I were so happy.”

Along with his gold hardware, Luke Evankovich was awarded $1,000 and an opportunity to compete at the Pennsylvania State Safe Driving Competition on May 7th.

After announcing individual awards, the first place team was announced, with North Allegheny taking the overall team competition trophy. It was certainly a proud moment, and the gave a huge sigh of relief with the trophy in their hands due to Mr. Longo’s playful threat to not drive them home if they didn’t win.

“I was very excited for my students and very proud to be the SADD sponsor,” Longo said. “I think we represented NA well and did a great job.”

For winning the overall competition as a team, NASH SADD was awarded $500 in prize money along with the trophy. All of that money will go directly into funding for SADD events, and the trophy will join Mr. Longo’s shelf of awards in his office.

Wish the members of the team congratulations if you see them around the school, and wish Luke Evankovich luck as he moves forward to the state competition!