He was a friend she trusted. He was a new driver, 16 years old. It was a short drive four blocks long. It took only a minute or so before Kristal Monnens, 18, a passenger in his car, was killed as the car slammed into a tree. It took one careless act: too much power, too much speed, and too little driving experience. This is a situation confronting many teenagers over and over again, and, unfortunately, too many times the situation ends in death or injury.

In order to promote responsible safe driving with the hope of preventing future tragedies, Minnesotans For Safe Driving, along with the Monnens family, and with the assistance of the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office launched the "Kristal Clear Campaign" in memory of Kristal.

On May 6, 2002, two days short of the first anniversary of her death, a news conference was held in Osseo to announce the campaign details. The news conference was held under one of the billboards used in the campaign.

Kristal Monnens' friends and family were in attendance, as well as youth from Osseo High School's "Teens Driving Safe" organization, and law enforcement. The car in which Kristal was killed was also on display. A trailer carrying the car was pulled by a truck recently confiscated by the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and forfeited because of a drunk driving violation. This truck will be used to tow this car and other crash vehicles to parades, schools, civic functions, etc. in order to promote safe driving.

Kristal was a student at Shakopee High School. It was just a few short weeks before her graduation when during an innocent drive to Orono to visit a friend she met on vacation ended her life. It seemed as though they were doing everything right: using their seatbelts and not drinking. The one thing that she didn't count on was the driver's inexperience with a high-powered car.

We are all aware of the dangers of drunk and impaired driving and hear the tragic stories of the devastation caused by those actions, but society forgets that there are many other causes of impaired driving besides alcohol or drugs. This campaign is to bring attention to two other causes that most people don't even think about: driver inexperience and careless driving. Kristal's death may have been an accident but one that should not have happened. More attention needs to be given to the awesome responsibility that driving really is. Not one of us would hold a loaded weapon with such disregard as we do with our everyday driving.

Along with the billboards and the crashed car, a main component of the campaign is legislative action for the 2003 legislative session to strengthen the 1998 law on graduated licenses and enhanced the penalty for careless driving.