Every day, eight teenagers die in motor vehicle crashes, which are the leading cause of death for teens in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control. Many more are seriously injured. In a report from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 2,611 people were killed in crashes involving drivers between the ages of 15 and 18 in 2023 alone.
For John Anderson and his wife Vivian Pratt Anderson, these sobering numbers are not acceptable. With their nonprofit, Distress Bandanna Teen Driver Safety Initiative, Inc., the couple is making a measurable difference as they promote teen driver safety awareness through education and advocacy.
“It really impacts everyone,” Vivian says. “It could be your family, friends, neighbors, coworkers or someone [else] you know. Our mission is to promote teen driver safety.”
Since 2016, the Menard Electric Cooperative members have addressed more than 90,000 students in person, volunteering their time and resources to deliver more than 2,500 presentations to teens across Illinois and in neighboring states.
Their programs cover everything from distracted and drowsy driving to Scott’s Law, Move Over campaigns, seat belt safety, medical emergencies — even downed power line protocol through partnerships with electric utilities.
In addition, their nonprofit’s “Train Your Brain” campaign is a safety awareness initiative that encourages people to make safe driving practices part of their muscle memory, like slowing down and moving over when approaching a stationary vehicle alongside the road, looking out for motorcycles, and staying off phones, among others.
“The whole point is to engrain driving safety into their heads,” John says, who is also a trained first responder. “The more they say it and the more they think about it, the more likely they’ll do it in a real-life situation.”
Each presentation comes with stories, demonstrations and a practical tool — the Distress Bandanna. Students learn how it can be used as a signal flag in an emergency, as a tourniquet or a sling, or even as a simple reminder to slow down and think about safety.
Distress Bandanna originated when John was returning home from a trip to Sturgis, S.D. He passed a stretch of road dotted with motorcyclists who seemed to be stranded. He stopped several times to ask if someone needed help, but most didn’t. Eventually, he ceased asking, thinking otherwise he’d never make it home.
“I thought there had to be a better way for someone to know you need help,” he says.
Two years later, the Distress Bandanna was born. Simple, portable and highly visible, the bandanna can be waved or tied so its bright orange triangle and reflective strips, developed in collaboration with 3M, can be seen from a distance. It’s a small piece of fabric that can be carried in a glove box, backpack or pocket, and could mean the difference between life and death.
Beyond signaling for roadside assistance, it can be used for outdoor emergencies like hunting accidents and natural disasters — even for makeshift medical implements. In the classroom, teens are taught how to use it.
“When we started the idea, we didn’t quite know what we wanted to do with it, but we knew that we wanted to use it to help others,” Vivian says.
And, thanks to recent legislative victories, they now influence nearly 133,000 teen drivers annually. In 2023, after years of gathering data and pushing for change, they successfully championed the inclusion of stranded motorist safety protocol in Illinois’ official Rules of the Road. The bill, written in part by John and Vivian, passed unanimously and ensures every Illinois driver’s education student is taught how to protect themselves if their car breaks down on the road.
For the couple, the commitment to the mission hasn’t come without sacrifice. They travel extensively for presentations throughout the year to reach schools and students across Illinois and beyond.
They’ve been inspired by the words of countless students: a girl in Chicago who thanked them for restoring her faith in humanity; a boy from Flora who helped save his mother’s life on the road; and the thousands who proudly post “#MoveOverLaw” on social media.
“We don’t make a penny doing this,” John says. “But just because we don’t know you doesn’t mean we don’t care. … It gives us that extra boost, knowing we are doing some good and that we’re saving lives.”
Looking to the future, their goal is to reach 100,000 students in person — and to fill Illinois classrooms with “Train Your Brain” safety posters and resources. However, printing and distributing those materials requires funding.
Readers can help by spreading awareness, inviting the program into schools, or supporting the mission financially. Donations help supply classrooms with posters, kits and training materials, and they enable the nonprofit to expand its outreach. To learn more, go to distressbandanna.com/train-your-brain-campaign or email distressbandanna@gmail.com.
“Our impact is tremendous. Every week, we’re impacting students,” Vivian says. “Our mission is to save lives, and with more support, we can reach more people, coast to coast. … Distress Bandanna [has] a legacy of lifesaving advocacy. That pretty much says it all.”
