FARMINGDALE — It started small as a way to get a grade and graduate from Hall-Dale High School.

But for seniors Matt Ingalls of Farmingdale and Zac Stearn of Augusta, their advocacy against distracted driving has become something much bigger.

Ingalls and Stearn chose to research distracted driving, particularly texting and the use of electronic devices, as a capstone project, which is a graduation requirement at the high school.

“We started out thinking we should do something small just to do the grade and graduate,” Ingalls said. “After seeing the statistics, we realized we had to make it a little bigger, and it just unraveled.”

They eventually created the Distracted Driving Awareness Program, which they have presented to the Legislature’s Transportation Committee, several classes in Regional School Unit 2 and at Maranacook Community High School.

They hope to turn it into a sustainable program available to all Maine high schools, and they are advocating for Secretary of State Charlie Summers to include information about distracted driving in a revamp of Maine’s drivers education curriculum.

“When I took drivers ed, this is literally what happened: I was sitting at my desk, and they said, ‘Do not use your cellphone while driving. It’s dangerous, and it has the potential to kill you. Moving on,'” Stearn said. “That was the end of the distracted driving chapter, if you will.”

Ingalls and Stearn learned a lot more when they started combing the Internet for more information. They found stories about teenagers who had died or killed other people while texting and driving, along with several statistics and research findings they shared during their official capstone presentation at school last week:

* Someone driving 55 mph who takes their eyes off the road for five seconds travels the length of a football field during that time.

* Using a cellphone while driving causes a similar level of impairment as legal intoxication.

* Drivers using an iPod or other mp3 player are 10 percent more likely to swerve out of their lane.

Ingalls and Stearn also conducted a nonscientific survey of Hall-Dale students and teachers, which showed that 78 percent talk on the phone while driving, and 55 percent manually change songs on their mp3 players.

Hall-Dale’s wellness courses have already integrated the Distracted Driving Awareness Program into the curriculum.

Ingalls and Stearn created a website, www.ddaprogram.webs.com, and wrote a booklet that includes a family responsible driving contract.

“If you sign it, that’s a pledge saying you won’t do ridiculous things while driving, like texting or drinking,” Ingalls said. “There’s a part in it for parents to teach their kids not to drive distracted.”

Stearn said he used to text while driving, but has stopped, while Ingalls never has.

Ingalls will enroll at the University of Maine at Augusta next year, and Stearn is going to the University of Southern Maine. Despite that, they plan to continue giving presentations to school groups and they’re trying to raise money to train other teens to take the program to more schools.

“We don’t want another lecture from another teacher or a parent,” Stearn said. “We thought the best way to reach students, and the best way to have them truly hear the message, is if other teens approached them and presented the information.”

Ingalls and Stearn were mentored by Sen. Bill Diamond, D-Windham, who proposed the law that banned texting while driving in Maine and took effect in September. Diamond arranged for them to speak to the Transportation Committee and meet with Summers.

Diamond, who attended the their school presentation, said he is very impressed with the work Ingalls and Stearn put into the program and their dedication to the cause.

“I think that their message to other teens is much stronger and more forceful than mine or the secretary of state’s or anyone else,” Diamond said. “I would like to see it instituted in the drivers ed courses, which would be a big advantage. I’d like to see more kids pick up the effort when these two move on to college. If this could spread from school to school, I think that would be a tremendous advantage.”

Diamond and Summers were both focused on teen driving safety last week as they pushed a bill to keep new drivers on restricted licenses for longer periods and increase penalties on new drivers for violating the restrictions.

The bill, which passed both houses of the Legislature on Friday, also would increase the fine for texting and driving for all drivers.

Megan Sanborn, spokeswoman for the Secretary of State’s office, said the issue of distracted driving came up frequently during the week.

“One of the things that we’ve heard in the Legislature over the past two days is that that is something that is missing in the curriculum,” Sanborn said. “That is the big piece that is getting not just young drivers, but anybody, into accidents.”

The technical review panel that writes the state required curriculum will consider how to address texting and other forms of distracted driving, Sanborn said. The curriculum has not been updated since 1996.

Susan McMillan — 621-5645

smcmillan@mainetoday.com