Saul Lerner, the Central District’s director of health, physical education, athletics and driver education, said he’s happy to see students taking on driving issues. “Driver education issues have always been done adult to student, but here it’s been done student to student,” he said. 

Wendy Tepfer, executive director of the Community Parent Center, which is assisting the Lawrence twins in telegraphing their message, agreed. “The peer-to-peer message is really the most successful,” she said. 

At press time, the sisters had collected more than 300 signatures of fellow students pledging never to text while driving. They plan to continue their effort throughout the senior year in 2014-15, working to secure more pledges, and they will likely hold another community seminar in the fall.

WHO ARE ANNA AND EMILY? 

Anna Lawrence

Age: 17

Junior class president

Sports: Soccer, basketball and lacrosse

Outside School: Youth vice president of local B’nai B’rith chapter

Emily Lawrence

Age: 17

Student government representative

Member of Key Club and Hope Club (an environmental club)

Sports: Soccer, basketball and lacrosse

TEXTING AND DRIVING: A TEEN EPIDEMIC

• 82 percent of Americans ages 16 to 17 own cell phones.
• 52 percent say they have talked on their phones while driving.
• 34 percent say they have texted while driving.

Source: Don’t Text and Drive, at www.textinganddrivingsafety.com