Teens get first-hand experience in dangers of texting while driving
Charleroi junior Sydney Toth signs a pledge to not text and drive during the teen safe driving summit event. The event was sponsored in part by a grant from State Farm Insurance. More than 100 students from eight area school districts attended.
Canon-McMillan sophomore Brooklyn Meyer tries to text while navigating a driving simulation during the teen safe driving summit event at South Strabane Township fire hall on Oak Spring Road Friday. The simulation showed the high school students the dangers of texting while driving.
Kevin Monachini from PEER Awareness talks a student through the Aware-TXT driving simulation. While a student sits in a car and tries to text while navigating through the simulation, classmates can watch on a screen what the driver is seeing.
Taylor Barone has never used her cellphone to text while behind the wheel of her family’s vehicle. And after Friday, she knows she never will pick up the cellphone to send a friend a text message while driving.
The 16-year-old sophomore at Ringgold High School got a chance to see what can happen when you text and drive through a state-of-the-art virtual reality simulator during a Teen Safe Driving Summit on Friday at South Strabane Township fire hall on Oak Spring Road. The summit, presented by the state Department of Transportation, Southwest Regional Traffic Safety Network, AAA East Penn Central and other agencies, also included other workshops on seat belt use, distracted driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.
Barone and other young drivers got a chance to sit behind the wheel of a real car as part of the Aware TXT driving simulator. They were hooked up to a virtual reality headset that showed a road on a television screen. They operated the steering wheel and gas and brake pedals while using their own cellphone to text.
“It is a wake-up call for them,” said Andrew Orcutt, crew manager for PEER Awareness, which brought the simulator to the seminar. “They find it surprising how quickly texting affects their driving.”
Barone, who recently got her learner’s permit, crossed the center line several times and went off the road before eventually crashing in the simulation.
“It is so hard to focus,” Barone said. “I will never pick up my phone and text while driving.”
Brooklyn Meyer, a 16-year-old sophomore at Canon-McMillan High School, just got her driver’s license.
“It wasn’t easy,” she said of the simulation.
Noel Arbes, a 16-year-old junior at Ringgold, also has her license. She said the simulator showed how hard it was to text and drive.
“It was scary,” Arbes said. “It was very realistic and it showed how easy it is to get distracted.”
Jay Ofsanik, safety press coordinator for PennDOT’s District 12, said this is believed to be the first time the simulator has been used in Pennsylvania.
“Not only do they learn by experience, but they see the results of someone else’s driving,” said Ofsanik, explaining that the other students get to see on a big-screen TV how the driver is faring.
“If you think about it, we are getting a chance to affect their behavior,” Ofsanik added.
Colleen Lantz, team leader for Southwest Regional Traffic Safety Network, said that the seminar was made possible through a grant from State Farm Insurance. She said it was important because not all school districts offer driver education classes.
More than 100 students from Bethlehem-Center, Canon-McMillan, Charleroi, Jefferson-Morgan, Monessen, Ringgold, Trinity and Washington school districts participated in the summit.