GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (KKCO) - One family's tragic loss is fueling their campaign to make defensive driving more accessible to student drivers.

September 11, 2004, Steve and Sherry Katz lost their 19-year-old son Michael in a car crash.

Now it's their mission to make other teens more prepared for real world driving. The Katz's have been running a NASCAR driving simulator business for the past five years and want to turn it into a defensive driving simulator and take it to local high schools.

They've been pursuing government grant money for two years now and believe that their training can give young drivers a better chance at success.

"We just want to keep other families from going through the same pain that we went through. That's what we're all about and any way we can help that, we're all for doing that," says Steve Katz.

Typically families will pay up to $300 for a six-hour driving course and defensive driving isn't even part of it. The Katz's say if they get their grant their defensive driving simulator will be free to all students across Colorado. If approved for the money they hope to get the program up and running in three months.