North Students ‘Crash’ into Texting, Driving Lesson
North High School students gathered around a small desk rigged with three computer screens, a steering wheel, gas and brake pedals.
“Whoa!” the crowd said in unison as Cesar Marfal attempted to drive while texting. He crashed when a computerized boy chased a ball into the street.
Someone in the group said he’d never before thought about a child getting hurt or killed because he was sending a text.
Iowa State Representative Ako Abdul Samad and representatives of State Farm Insurance brought the equipment over to North High School to give students a hands-on look at what could happen on the road when they aren’t paying attention.
“We adults can’t just tell them not to text and drive,” Samad said. “We have to show them why they shouldn’t and then let the students spread the word.”
Samad talked to the dozens of students who showed up for the exercise. He asked if any of them have ever lost a family member or a friend to a car accident. Several hands went up.
Car crashes are the number one cause of teen death in U.S. and the number has increased with the introduction of texting, said Mick Mullhern with the Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau. He said adults have a responsibility to model good behavior.
“Teen drivers are typically mentored by the adults in their lives,” said Mullhern, “and there are a lot more adult drivers texting while they’re driving. The teens are subliminally learning from that.”
In addition to considering the lives of others, Samad said students should take a hard look at whether they want to be in a car with someone who is texting and driving.
“They need to decide, ‘Hey, what is my life worth?'”
Freshman Madison Houska has a permit. She doesn’t text and drive now and says today just reinforced her decision.
“Someone could be seriously hurt,” she said. “You could devastate someone, even an entire family,” she said.
Before the exercise, Creative Visions, the organization behind the texting and driving simulation, was presented with a check from State Farm to continue bringing the driving simulator to schools.
See more photos of North’s texting and driving exercise
Created with Admarket’s flickrSLiDR.
