Event For Students Raises Awareness Of Distracted Driving Dangers

Students in Rogers County got an up-close and personal reminder of the dangers of distracted driving.

The organizers of this event said they hope students will see just how important it is to stay focused on the road.

The dangerous reality of distracted driving was front and center at Chelsea High School on Tuesday.

High school student, Natalie Lopez, said she's been in the car with people who have been distracted behind the wheel and she's not the only one.

"Driving safe is important because you can not only hurt yourself, but you can hurt others," Lopez said.

The CDC said about 3,000 people die every year in crashes involving a distracted driver. For national teen driver safety week, 400 students in Chelsea learned ways they can prevent crashes and stay safe on the road.

"Oklahoma Challenge isn't just an education program; we also try to empower students to share the message with each other because when they say it they listen. Teens listen to teens," Terrell said.

Oklahoma Challenge director, Linda Terrell, said students got to drive with impaired goggles around cones, learn how to drive around semi-trucks, and see a crashed motorcycle and wrecked car in which a family was killed by a distracted driver.

In 2019, a survey of U.S. high school students found that students who texted or emailed while driving were more likely to not always wear a seat belt.

"We can decide today that we are going to put that phone down and drive safely and buckle up," Terrell said.

Lopez said even though she is not a driver yet, she plans on taking what she learned at Tuesday's training and start speaking up when she someone distracted while driving.

"I would just nicely ask them to pay attention to what they are doing so we can both stay safe," Lopez said.