Dozens of cartoons drawing attention to road safety were unveiled by Mount St.

Agnes students last week.

And the sketches -- inspired by the Smartrisk HEROES presentation in January -- gives a series of graphic warnings about the risks of unsafe driving.

Smartrisk, formally the Canadian Injury Prevention Foundation, is a charitable organisation founded in 1992 by Dr. Robert Conn, a former children's heart surgeon.

He began the foundation when he started seeing more and more young people come across his operating table.

"When we are face something that results in so many deaths, such as meningitis, we call it an epidemic and take immediate action,'' Dr. Conn said.

"Yet for some reason, we've conditioned ourselves to believe that an accident in unavoidable.'' He went on to say that we talk about plane crashes, not plane accidents. But we refer to car, boating and skiing accidents.

"We need to eliminate the word accident, and start calling these things what they are - car collisions, boat crashes and diving incidents.'' he said.

Dr. Conn said he realised he could save more lives by helping to eliminate injuries and that this was the best kind of preventive medicine.

"We won't change people's attitudes by lecturing,'' Dr. Conn said.

"Teenagers tell us bluntly that safety sucks. Traditional safety isn't appealing to teenagers.'' Smartrisk noted that for each of us there is a continuum of risks.

At one end of the spectrum are risks that none of us are prepared to take because we feel the risk is too high.

At the other end of the spectrum are risks that we take so much for granted, that we don't even perceive there to be a risk.

In the middle however, are situations involving risk in which we consciously or unconsciously make a choice.

For each of us, there is a line of choice that separates smart risk from stupid risk. Smartrisk calls this line the `stupid line'.

This was the major reason that Smartrisk created HEROES.

It is an internationally acclaimed traveling road show, that talks about smart risks and personal choices which Island students had the chance to see last January.

The large-scale multi-media presentation combines still pictures and loud music with a live speaker. The young injury survivor speaks candidly about how their injury has affected their life.

The speaker at January's conference introduced himself to the packed theatre by saying: "My name is Adrian Dieleman and I want to tell you about the worst thing that ever happened to me.'' Adrian and his friends celebrated the end of exams, in May 1987, with a couple of drinks.

He then got in his car and drove, too fast and without a seat belt, down a winding Canadian road.

The car slid, hit the ditch and rolled. When it stopped rolling, Adrian was under it.

The impact severed his spinal cord, leaving him a quadriplegic. After spending 14 months in rehabilitation he is now telling his story through HEROES.

The goal of the programme is to help youth see the risks in their everyday lives and show them how to take those risks in the smartest way possible.

Injuries count as the leading cause of death for people up to the age of 44 years-old -- more than cancer, heart attacks and strokes combined.

Smartrisk's injury prevention credo is that `life is about taking risks'.

The closing remarks of HEROES when it came to City Hall was to remind students of the risk they take everyday.

"Frankly we'd do anything we could if we thought it could keep you safe. But there isn't anything we can do,'' Adrian said.

"You're in control. It's your choice. It's your body. It's your responsibility. It is now and it always will be, as long as you live.

"All we can do is give you the facts and leave the choices up to you.'' Students who attended the conference were obviously affected by what they had heard.

Katie Arnold of Mount St. Agnes said it was good to see and hear someone who had been in an accident so that they would realise what they would lose, or potentially gain by taking risks.

"I was thankful that I wasn't in the situation that Adrian was in,'' said Arantxa Mayers. "I learned that my actions can be very detrimental to my health, and life in the future.'' "I learned the consequences of my actions can be severe,'' said student Lindsay Botelho. "And the speaker helped me realise how serious they (my actions) can be.'' Fellow student Bonnie Gjerswold said: "I really enjoyed the Smartrisk presentation. I think is was a lot more effective because Adrian (the speaker) was someone speaking from experience.

"It means more coming from someone who has experienced it.'' "It was a great programme and it made me think about how fragile my life could be if I put it in danger,'' said another student, Sasha Hall.

Making the point: Mount St. Agnes students were strongly influenced by the powerful message they received during January's Smartrisk conference and expressed the lesson through art.

Students learn of the dangers of taking risks on the road