SARANAC LAKE — The sound of car crashes and footage, headlines and statistics about distracted driving filled the Saranac Lake High School auditorium on Friday.

Students in SLHS Driver Education Instructor Marla McGinnis’ class produced 14 public service announcements about distracted driving with Library Media Specialist Seth Putnam. On Friday, they had a watch party to view their work with a panel of judges from the school and police department.

The judges will pick out winners for prizes and the opportunity to work with Saranac Lake Police Chief Darin Perrotte and 106.3 WNBZ FM on a radio PSA ad.

Perrotte said he didn’t know what to expect from the PSAs and was shocked by their quality of story and messaging.

Some students staged their own crashes in dramatizations of cars hitting pedestrians. Others were filled with slogans like “Distractions impact your actions,” “Hold the wheel, not the conversation” or “Drive safe, someone loves you.” Several had statistics on how distracted driving causes more than 3,000 deaths in America a year, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration

Some of the PSAs had SLPD “guest stars” with Officer Gabby Beebe arresting a distracted driver who caused a crash in one short — handcuffs, siren and all.

McGinnis said they’re a creative bunch and she got the idea to do the PSAs after seeing Putnam working with other students on video projects in the library media center.

“This group is a very hands-on learning group,” she said.

The students took the idea and ran with it, she added, and their energy kept growing. McGinnis and Putnam said the student’s work made them very proud.

The students studied what makes a PSA effective — what makes someone stop scrolling and listen to the message. Some PSAs were styled like social media ads, shot vertically or replicating internet content.

Putnam said to be able to use that medium to make a positive impact was great. He said students stepped out of their comfort zone and pulled it off.

Junior Augustus Earl said he and Noah Hastings wanted to create a visual of the horror that can happen with distracted driving, to make it human and create an emotional reaction. Using a bit of movie magic, they convincingly hit their buddy, Cedar Crist with a truck in their PSA. Earl said even a seemingly trivial thing like answering a text can have a major impact at the wrong moment.

Junior Mason Stoddard said he and his friends wanted their PSA to be touching and personal. It shows a student getting ready for their day, texting while driving and crashing after blowing through a stop sign.

Stoddard said he learned in watching other PSAs that distracted driving is about way more than just texting.

Other PSAs identified three major types of distracted driving — visual, mental and physical.

It can be something like adjusting the radio, talking, eating, falling asleep, fixing hair or even daydreaming.

Sophomore Rori Chenaille-Schenk scoured the web for news stories about distracted driving and featured headlines and pictures that depicted the consequences of distracted driving.

“It can be really simple things,” she said.

One story from April was about a man who dropped a doughnut, reached for it and veered into oncoming traffic, causing a severe crash with multiple injuries.

Juniors Hailey Van Dien and Shannon Smith’s PSA pulls on viewers’ heartstrings by featuring footage of a cat crossing the road paired with a distracted driver.

Van Dien said through creating the PSA she realized a crash can happen anytime. Smith said she realized how easy it is to be distracted without even noticing.

“Your life can affect others,” Junior Will Domenico said. “Just think about what you’re doing before you do it, you know?”

McGinnis hopes her students share the message with their friends.

Previous graduates of McGinnis’ class handed out bracelets from the organization EndDD.org, which was started by Pennsylvania man Joel Feldman after his daughter, Casey Feldman, was killed by a distracted driver.

“Don’t do it. Don’t risk your own life for it,” Junior Thomas Cleator said.

The driver’s ed class is planning to do another round of PSAs on impaired driving for the end of the school year.

School officials plan to upload the PSAs in a video to the school district YouTube page and other social media pages.