Students get up close look at dangers of impaired, distracted driving
SAVANNAH, Tenn. — One local high school held a special event to educate their students.
Hardin County High School held a mock crash for their juniors and seniors Friday morning. This scene simulated a crash caused by a distracted driver which left people critically injured.
We spoke with the coordinator of EMS in Savannah, Mitzi Fields, about why this is important for the students.
“We do this to make the kids aware of how important it is to pay attention, to not text and drive, not be impaired and drive,” Fields said.
Larae Sliger, the EMA Director for Hardin County, talked about the planning that went into this scenario, and what they wanted the students to learn from it.
“EMA and fire, and EMS, we all got together and got everybody on the same page that we wanted to bring this to the school so that we can make everybody aware of what’s going on out there, and get everyone’s attention and make them pay attention,” Sliger said. “Everything we did today, if we can make one person say, ‘I do not need to get behind the wheel right now,’ it’s all worth it.”
We are starting to see a lot of schools having these mock drills for their students. Sliger talks about how this is a better demonstration, as opposed to just talking with the students.
“If you just put something on a Powerpoint, or you just talk about it in the gym, it doesn’t hit home,” Sliger said. “Them seeing somebody through the windshield of a car, laying out on the hood with blood everywhere, really brought it home. The kids who were in the backseat of the car are kids that go to high school here, so it really hits home to them that they just saw two of their friends critically injured.”
One of the students who helped participate, Jordan Franks, spoke about how they need to help hold each other accountable and be there to give someone a ride if they need it.
While most of the other mock crashes around the area focus on drunk driving, this one spoke a lot about texting and driving, and other ways you could be impaired.
For more news in the Hardin County area, click here.
