NEWS

Texting while driving simulation educates students

October 7, 2015

Students try out the texting and driving Tuesady, Oct. 6. (Photo by Amber Alerta)

By Amber Alerta (@amberalerta)
On Tuesday Oct. 6, students were given the opportunity to participate in a simulation of something that has become a reality for many on the roads: texting while driving.
This simulation, run by FCCLA and assisted by Illinois Secretary of State’s traffic manager Kathleen Widmer, was aimed towards teaching students about the danger of texting while driving.
Simulation is supposed to, while having the test subject assist the passenger form a text message, create distractions seen in everyday driving situations such as pedestrians turning corners and balls rolling onto the street in front of the car.
Sophomore Patrick Mertes thinks the simulation solidifies what he already knew about texting and driving. When he needs to send a message while behind the wheel, he opts to have his friends in the passenger seat send it for him.
“I feel uncomfortable texting and driving because if I crashed, people would get hurt,” Mertes said. “[texting while driving] can be horribly dangerous for me and others around me.”
Both Widmer and Mertes hope to see less students texting and driving. They look forward to seeing less accidents on the roads and more strides towards safe driving.
“I think we all have been behind the wheel where we’ve seen people doing things they shouldn’t be definitely doing like texting and driving,” Widmer said. “It makes for a lot of close calls.”

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