A LIFE SAVING LESSON AT MOTT
Dangers of distracted driving is focus prior to spring break
It just takes a second to become distracted when you’re behind the wheel and risk the chance of harming yourself or others: that is the message Warren Mott High School students worked to convey during their Strive for a Safer Drive pep rally March 22.
Career and Technical Education teacher Tony Wright worked with a group of students to put together the event, which featured hands-on activity stations where students could experience what it feels like to complete certain tasks, including driving, while distracted or impaired. Wright expected more than 500 students to attend the rally that was planned just a couple of weeks prior to spring break — a time when students might be especially tempted to engage in distracted driving.
Mott seniors Scott Mudd, Nicole Malinova, Maressa Sova, and Nadeen Yonan led the effort to create the event. They said it is difficult for most people to ignore their phone while driving.
“I think electronics have impacted everyone so much,” said Malinova. “You can’t imagine a life without it so people want to respond to a phone call or a text right away; it is like a reflex.”
Attendees could wear goggles that simulated being impaired and try to play catch, shoot a basketball free throw, and go through a traffic stop and sobriety test administered by Mott school resource officer Darryl Bagiano.
“Most of the kids think they will be able to easily handle the sobriety test, but not one has passed
“Most of the kids think they will be able to easily handle the sobriety test, but not one has passed yet. I think this gives them a different perspective.”
— Darryl Bagiano, Warren Mott school resource officer
yet,” said Bagiano. “I think this gives them a different perspective.
“And everyone that is watching sees that the person doing the test is not following directions and not able to walk heel to toe so they are learning as much as the person doing the test.”
Kayla Thomas-Wright, program director for Strive for a Safer Drive, runs the station with the driving simulator where students experience driving while experiencing distractions, such as trying to answer a text message, or while being impaired.
“We have a lot of students who are like ‘oh yeah, I can text and drive’ and they do it and they crash,” said Thomas-Wright. “In the real world, you are going to have a lot more distraction and a lot more things going on, which just shows we all need to keep our eyes on the road and our hands on the wheel.”
Bagiano said a recent incident in the Mott parking lot where a group of students were in a car and the driver was texting and drove through a fence is a good example of how quickly things can go awry. No students were injured, but the lesson about not texting and driving was learned.
“People are very proud of their ability to multitask, but when we are driving, that is not when we want to display our multitasking abilities,” said ThomasWright. “We are so connected now at all times, it is really hard to separate yourself and focus on one thing.”