Rubber meets road: Teens learn dangers of distracted driving

July 23--More than 100 teens and parents spent their Saturday potentially saving their own lives. They participated in advanced driver training for teens as part of Traffic Safety Day at the Minnesota Highway Safety and Research Center.

"What we know is on our roadways, teens ages 15 to 20, are overly represented in crashes, particularly serious injury and fatal crashes," said Larry Nadeau, director of the center, which is just off U.S. Highway 10 east of the St. Cloud prison.

For the most part, the center trains law enforcement and emergency responders, including EMS people and firefighters.

But some of those same skills can be taught to teen drivers to prevent death and injuries.

Why bother?

"It's simple. We have a passion to keep people alive on our roadways," Nadeau said. "Sometimes, we all get busy in life and we don't put the attention on some of the life safety things like we should -- until something affects us personally."

State Farm Insurance has funded Traffic Safety Days for a number of years. Organizers expanded it this year to bring other safety partners on board, including the Minnesota State Patrol, the Minnesota Department of Transportation, St. Cloud police and fire departments, and the local Stearns-Benton Toward Zero Deaths Safe Roads Coalition.

The center also offers skills courses throughout the year, as well as training for seniors ages 55 and up and other groups. The classes include training and a lot of time behind the wheel.

The goal is to help kids develop muscle memory, Nadeau said, so the correct response will come more naturally in an emergency.

They talk about how to safely recover if you drift off the roadway, how to recover from a skid and maneuver with distracted drivers. Drivers practice skills in 60 squad cars, owned and maintained by the center.

Their instructors are current or retired emergency responders.

"They have a unique life experience and understand what happens on our roadways, and the tragic ... and lifelong effects on families," Nadeau said.

Parents also get involved, with some classroom training on the risks of teen driving and what's really happening on Minnesota roads.

Students do several runs of certain skills, gradually increasing speed and difficulty. And in only a short time, maybe an hour or so, you can see their skills getting better, Nadeau said.

Then instructors show kids just how dangerous distracted driving can be. Students perform the same skills, but at the same time, the lights and sirens on the car are on, the student is holding a radio on and is answering a question from the instruction: Name ice cream flavors or count back from 37 by 3.

Right away, you can tell something is different. Students are driving faster or slower than expected. They're driving in the wrong lane, which in this exercise means they drove into the back of a garbage truck, or they knocked down cones representing people and obstacles like mail boxes. It's an exercise they try to run with whatever group they're training.

People think we are good at multi-tasking, but we're really not, Nadeau added.

The center started in 1974 and is part of St. Cloud State University. It is self-supporting through fees and private grants. It provides education and training to prevent death, injuries and financial losses due to traffic accidents.

It uses real scenarios in a controlled environment to help teens and people who drive professionally, including law enforcement and emergency responders.

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Teen crash prevention skills classes

* Usually one Saturday per month.

* Next regular class: Noon-4 p.m., Aug. 3, must have valid driver's license or permit (with enough hours to operate vehicle independently).

* At least one parent must accompany their teen.

* Pre-registration and pre-payment required.

* Cost: $150; nonrefundable, nontransferable

* Payment: Credit card by calling 320-255-3123 after registration. No credit card? Call 320-255-3123, then mail a check to: MHSRC, 720 Fourth Ave. S; St. Cloud MN 56301-4498.

* Office hours: 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Mondays through Fridays.

* Attendance: Arrive 15 minutes before class to complete additional required registration materials. If you cancel or need to change dates, you will be charged the fee again.

* Details: www.stcloudstate.edu/continuingstudies/mhsrc/teen-crash-prevention/default.aspx.

Youth or novice driving resources

* National Highway Traffic Safety Administration: nhtsa.gov/road-safety/teen-driing.

* Minnesota Office of Traffic Safety: dps.mn.gov/divisions/ots.

* Minnesota Toward Zero Deaths: minnesotatzd.org.

* AAA Keys2Drive: teendriving.aaa.com/MN.

* Ford Driving Skills for Life: drivingskillsforlife.com.

* Mom Enough: Growing safe drivers: momenough.com/2016/04/teen-driving.

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