Texting-driving program highlights deadly outcomes for teens

James River sophomore Parker Lingon began to text a message on his cell phone while behind the wheel. His friends and fellow classmates watched as Lingon swerved and lost control of the car in a high-speed, out-of-control crash – all viewed on the monitor of the AWARE-TXT Simulator mounted on the roof of the stationary car where Lingon sat.

Lingon removed the special viewing visor that simulated the road course and stepped out of the vehicle so another student could have a turn during the PEER Awareness texting-driving awareness program sponsored by Wells Fargo and James River PTSA. “It was really hard. It wasn’t much like driving, but it definitely simulated it,” Lingon said. “I crashed twice and I was swerving a lot.”

Caroline Scherzer, a sophomore, also crashed during her simulated drive. “At first I thought it was going to be easy, but once I started driving, it was a lot more difficult,” she said.

The simulated experience was a two-day program this past week that provided a safe environment for James River students to experience the dangers of texting while driving. Teacher Brent Vandell explained that the simulator was one part of the program that showed how taking one’s eyes off the road for a few seconds make a difference. He noted that a lot of different schools in the county are addressing driver safety. “I’m not sure if this [simulator] is necessarily the answer, but sitting on my hands not doing anything is not helping,” he said.

Vandell explained the simulator, “they’re going to be texting, they’re going to be driving, and they’re going to notice what happens when they take their eyes off the road for a split second just to type one or two little letters their phone.”

Students also watched a video and held in-class discussions later that day. One of the surprising facts that the students learned through the program’s companion video, which discussed the dangers of texting and driving and drinking and driving, was the reaction time of a drunk driver and a texting driver. “The reaction time was 15 feet when they had something to drink. The reaction time when they were texting was 45 feet, so it was three times longer when you’re sober texting,” he said.

Vandell, who also teaches in-car driver’s education at the school, has seen the frustration students have when they’re not able to use their phone in the car. Although students are instructed to have their phones off or placed in his or her book bag that is then locked in the trunk, sometimes a student will forget and the phone will be on vibrate and go off. “I notice that the student gets visibly upset because they can’t see who it is, read the text and then, respond. Pretty much to them, it’s almost social suicide to not hit [text] it back right away. So, turn the phone off. There is nothing that will be that important,” he said. “These kids need to understand that when they’re in the car, the instant gratification like that - communication is not the most important thing.”

Automobile accidents are the number one killer of teenagers, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “The number one cause of automobile accidents overall is failure to pay attention – taking your eyes off the road, changing the song on your iPod, changing the radio station, texting and making phone calls. That’s what is going to kill them,” Vandell said. “I’m not sure if this is the right answer, but sitting on my hands not doing anything is not helping. I’ve been to far too many of my kids’ funerals; it’s not really that fun standing there looking at a 16- or 18-year-old kid.”

The next driver’s program at James River will be a no-zone presentation that discusses transportation safety around large trucks. The program will offer students an opportunity to meet the truck driver and learn about what that driver can and cannot see as well as how the larger vehicles cannot stop or move like a car. “Martin’s formally Ukrops, has been cooperative in that, by bringing in a big truck,” Vandell said.