Simulator offers students glimpse of consequences

March 18--Glynn Academy junior Myracle Odom sat behind the steering wheel Monday, determined to send text messages while attempting to drive to her destination.

After a few minutes of following her GPS system and texting with her friend, Justin, about going for pizza later in the day, Myracle, 17, learned how dangerous texting and driving is.

Luckily, though, the wreck she caused was not real, because she was "driving" a simulator brought to Glynn Academy'sWood Gym by the AT&T "It Can Wait" campaign to curb texting while driving.

Although she was confident she did a "pretty good" job of texting and driving, Odom also said she learned a valuable lesson.

"It really teaches you what can actually happen to you when you text and drive," she said, sitting with a friend on a rolled-up wrestling mat while her classmates took their turns on the simulator.

Hundreds of students came by the gym throughout the day to try their hands at something statistics suggest may be even more dangerous than drinking and driving, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It says texting while driving is six times more likely than drinking and driving to cause an accident.

The National Safety Council says texting while driving causes 1.6 million vehicle crashes a year. According a study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, about 330,000 injuries per year are from crashes caused by texting while driving. An estimated 11 teenagers die every day because of texting and driving, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.

Those statistics are why Griffin Hagler, who manages the simulator's national tour, says the "It Can Wait" campaign is needed to try to save lives.

Texting from behind the wheel is one of the most dangerous activities, "because it combines all forms of distraction," Hagler said.

Giving teenagers a chance to experience what can happen when driving distracted offers a valuable lesson.

"(The first-hand experience) changes their opinion. It changes their mindset," Hagler said.

Tonya Barbee, interim executive director of Glynn County'sCommunities in Schools program, which worked with AT&T to bring the simulator to Glynn Academy, says she knows it will not make teenagers stop texting and driving altogether. What they learn from it, though, may make them think twice before texting and driving on a real road, she said.

For freshman Douglas Auguste, 15, who hopes to get his learner's driving permit this week, the simulator experience was eye-opening.

Like nearly every other student who tried to text and drive, Douglas found himself in a crash. "It was hard to text and drive at the same time," he said.

That is because studies show texting takes a driver's attention for at least five seconds, which means a car moving at 55 mph travels about the length of a football field without the driver seeing the road.

-- Reporter Michael Hall writes about public safety, environment and other local topics. Contact him at [email protected], on Facebook or at 265-8320, ext. 320.

___

(c)2014 The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.)

Visit The Brunswick News (Brunswick, Ga.) at www.thebrunswicknews.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services