AN APPEAL FOR SAFETY; PARENTS TO AIR GRIEF.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

CANYON COUNTRY - As the sound of sirens fill the air and images of tangled metal fills the screen, Tom and Alice Renolds talk about the loss of their two teen-age sons in a high-speed collision.

``This wasn't an accident, this was the result of a reckless driver,'' Alice said. ``I wish we could hug them one more time.''

``I just keep thinking about all the things we did and we'll never do again,'' the grieving father said.

The moving images and dialogue are part of a 30-second public service announcement that will begin airing today on eight networks - MTV, VH-1, E!, Comedy, ESPN2, FX, Sci-Fi and FSW2. The segment will be broadcast more than 730 times throughout the month.

Timothy Renolds was 18 and Daniel Renolds was 15 when they were killed along with another passenger, Dominick Ianozzi, 17, and a passing motorist, Rodney Adams, 45, on Feb. 17 on Soledad Canyon Road. The driver of the car in which the teens were riding, Marcus Lellan, 18, has pleaded guilty to four counts of vehicular manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing and possible deportation to his native Denmark.

Presented publicly for the first time Monday afternoon at Canyon High School, the public service announcement officially kicked off the beginning of White Ribbon Weeks, a two-week initiative intended to draw attention to the dangers of reckless driving.

The initiative also is designed to remind teens that they are not immortal.

Struggling to fight back tears, Alice told a small crowd gathered at the high school that her sons believed they were invincible.

``Danny and Tim used to say to me, Mom, you worry too much, or Dad, nothing's going to happen,'' she said. ``But something did happen and we lost both of them. Please honor their memory by driving safely.''

By participating in the public service announcement, the Renoldses said they hope to use the tragic loss of their sons as a means to save the lives of others.

Since 1994, 16 Santa Clarita teens have died in traffic crashes and collisions.

``Alice and I are trying to get the message out, especially with the summer months here, that it's very dangerous on the road, and we all need to act responsibly behind the wheel,'' Tom said. ``We don't want anyone to have to live through the ordeal we have.''

Among the audience of some 30 people who turned out for the White Ribbon Weeks kickoff were members of the Compassionate Friends, a support group for parents who have lost children.

``We want to get the message out that it's senseless for kids to have to die so young, regardless of the reason,'' said Donna Blaire of Saugus, whose daughter Lauren, a senior at Saugus High, was killed in January 1998, and who lost another daughter to leukemia at age 6.

Two years ago, April Gamboa of Saugus lost her only son, Andrew Pelaez, when he was just 12. Andrew was crossing Whites Canyon Road near Canyon High when he was hit and killed by a passing car. April said the pain was just beginning to heal when she became pregnant three months ago.

``Being pregnant has brought up all the old fears and what-ifs,'' she said. ``I never imagined grief could come and go this way.''

She added that she feared students at Canyon High, shaken by the deaths of four students this year in car crashes, would forget the lessons they learned from their pain.

``They were real upset for about a month, and then they started to forget,'' she said. ``But I've learned to accept that because I used to run from grief. But I don't have that choice anymore.''

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Photo: (1 -- 2 -- color) Alice Renolds, above, catches her breath at a news conference Monday to kick off White Ribbons Weeks with her husband, Tom. At right, Mayor Jo Anne Darcy, left, along with Alice and Tom Renolds, tie a white ribbon to a tree in the courtyard of Canyon High School. The Renolds' two sons were killed Feb. 17 in a crash involving a reckless driver. By participating in the public service announcement, the Renoldses said they hope to use the tragic loss of their sons as a means to save the lives of others.

John Lazar/Staff Photographer