By Kim Predham
FREEHOLD BUREAU

For their dedication to teen driver safety, several lucky teenagers got a special reward Monday.

Seven members of Project Lundy — a student-run peer education group based at Freehold Township High School — braved the cold Monday to film a training video on the state's Graduated Driver License law, which affects drivers between the ages of 16 and 20.

The video, produced by NJN and the state's Division of Highway Traffic Safety, will be distributed to law enforcement personnel throughout the state — the first comprehensive video on the law since its enactment eight years ago, according to the division's director, Pam Fischer.

"Nobody educated them (police officers) . . . These are the men and women who are out there enforcing these laws," Fischer said.

State officials hope to have the video ready in time for several regulations that will go into effect next year.

Drivers holding a permit or provisional license must display a special decal on their vehicles. Drivers with a provisional license — which will be renamed a "probationary" license — also will be subject to a new curfew of 11 p.m. versus midnight and a one-passenger limit, unless a parent or guardian is in the vehicle. Any dependents of the license holder are excluded from the provision.

On Monday, the Freehold Township students acted out several scenarios at and around Colts Neck High School, including one of a young driver with too many passengers in his vehicle.

"We're not saying teens are bad drivers. They're inexperienced," said Steven Anderson, Freehold Township High School assistant principal and Project Lundy adviser.

Project Lundy members emphasize to teen drivers the need to reduce their distractions (like multiple passengers), slow down and wear seat belts, Anderson said.

Members talk to sophomores throughout the Freehold Regional High School District, participate in teen driving programs held for juniors, and address parents in every school in the district, Anderson said.

The group was formed in 2007 in response to a crash that killed four people, including Freehold High School junior Andrew Lundy. Lundy lived in Freehold Township.

"It definitely has an effect on all our peers," said Ken Brophy, 17, of Freehold Township.

Brophy was one of the seniors chosen to participate in Monday's film shoot.

Last year, the number of teenage drivers and passengers killed in motor-vehicle crashes in New Jersey decreased for the third straight year — 59 in 2008, compared to 68 in 2007 and 73 in 2006.

"That's what we hope to do — keep that number (dropping) down to zero," said Brophy's classmate, 17-year-old Alex Szelest of Freehold Township.