RANTOUL — The Rantoul Township High School driver’s education program
is taking a hands-on approach to teaching the dangers of drunk driving
and texting while driving.
Driver’s ed teacher Chris Wagner, along with the help of School Resource Officer Kurtis Buckley, set up a small road course in the staff parking lot using orange traffic cones. Students then drove golf carts, on loan from Willow Pond Golf Course, along the course with goggles on that simulated alcohol-impaired vision or were asked to text a list of groceries to someone.
“It wasn’t really that bad (with the goggles), but it was kind of weird, especially because everything was green,” sophomore Skyler Banbury said. “The texting is really hard. I ran over like four cones while I was texting. I was just like, ‘I’m done. Never doing that.’”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10,322 people were killed due to drunk driving, and more than 421,000 people were injured because of distracted driving in 2012.
“Texting and driving is just so much more common, and every one of these students will have the opportunity to do that,” Wagner said. “Not all of them will take the opportunity to drink and drive, so it’s important they know just how dangerous texting and driving is.”
Wagner said the students performed worse when they were asked to text.
“They were all over the cones when they had to text. They were everywhere,” Wagner said. “They were actually a little worse texting than they were with the goggles, believe it or not.”
Wagner said texting may be worse because the driver has his or her eyes off the road.
“You have your eyes down when you’re texting,” he said. “When you’re impaired, the driver may still be looking up. Again, that is not to say that driving drunk is better, by any means. Neither one of them are good.”
Wagner said the students took the training seriously, even though it was “out of the norm” for them.
“When you put those goggles on, everything turns goofy,” he said. “It’s hard to judge exactly what they’re getting out of it, but at least they’re getting the experience. Hopefully, they’ll take it heart.”
Wagner was thankful to all who helped with the new training.
“It was a big effort,” Wagner said. “We had a number of teachers come out and help. It was cool to see such a big effort for something like this.”
Driver’s ed teacher Chris Wagner, along with the help of School Resource Officer Kurtis Buckley, set up a small road course in the staff parking lot using orange traffic cones. Students then drove golf carts, on loan from Willow Pond Golf Course, along the course with goggles on that simulated alcohol-impaired vision or were asked to text a list of groceries to someone.
“It wasn’t really that bad (with the goggles), but it was kind of weird, especially because everything was green,” sophomore Skyler Banbury said. “The texting is really hard. I ran over like four cones while I was texting. I was just like, ‘I’m done. Never doing that.’”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10,322 people were killed due to drunk driving, and more than 421,000 people were injured because of distracted driving in 2012.
“Texting and driving is just so much more common, and every one of these students will have the opportunity to do that,” Wagner said. “Not all of them will take the opportunity to drink and drive, so it’s important they know just how dangerous texting and driving is.”
Wagner said the students performed worse when they were asked to text.
“They were all over the cones when they had to text. They were everywhere,” Wagner said. “They were actually a little worse texting than they were with the goggles, believe it or not.”
Wagner said texting may be worse because the driver has his or her eyes off the road.
“You have your eyes down when you’re texting,” he said. “When you’re impaired, the driver may still be looking up. Again, that is not to say that driving drunk is better, by any means. Neither one of them are good.”
Wagner said the students took the training seriously, even though it was “out of the norm” for them.
“When you put those goggles on, everything turns goofy,” he said. “It’s hard to judge exactly what they’re getting out of it, but at least they’re getting the experience. Hopefully, they’ll take it heart.”
Wagner was thankful to all who helped with the new training.
“It was a big effort,” Wagner said. “We had a number of teachers come out and help. It was cool to see such a big effort for something like this.”
No comments:
Post a Comment