Student's 'don't text and drive' art now a license plate

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - An elementary student created a powerful piece of artwork for anyone considering texting while driving, and his artwork is now available on a Florida license plate.

Rawlings Elementary student, Dayton Petrone created the drawing with the message, "Honk if you love Jesus, text if you want to meet him."

The brightly-colored drawing depicts two cars - one driver honking their horn, the other crashing while trying to text while driving.

Dayton was honored for his message and artwork Wednesday by Pinellas County Tax Collector Diane Nelson and Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri. His artwork also inspired the tax collector and sheriff to work on a collaborative "don't text and drive" campaign this summer.

Dayton's artwork, along with many other drawings from Pinellas County school students, is available for purchase at kidstagartpinellas.org for $15 plus $2.50 shipping and handling.

Pinellas County says funds raised from sales of the plates support arts education in the county, and $1 from the sale of each tag benefits the St. Petersburg College Foundation's "I AM 4 ART, U CAN B 2" Scholarship Fund.

Pinellas County said $55,200 cash and $10,000 in-kind donations have been received from community partners as part of this project so far.