El Dorado Students Get Lesson on Dangers of Texting and Driving
By: Brea Douglas, KTVE
Updated: November 30, 2012
El Dorado High School students have received an eye-opening lesson on the dangers of texting and driving.
AT&T representatives were on campus Thursday to let them try out a simulator that recreates real-life scenarios of what happens when you text and drive.
Abby Calloway was one of nearly 100 students who took a seat in the simulator.
"It was pretty realistic. There were a lot of unpredictable places where cars ran out in front of you or swerved into your lane or did something unexpected that you know that happens everyday," she said.
From simulators to the classroom, the message to students about the dangers of texting while driving continued with a video of teenagers who were killed in car accidents while texting.
"The video that they showed us in class was really effective for a lot of people. It just shows you what one small text can effect an entire lifetime," Calloway says.
"I watched the video and it was really sad like people losing their lives like a bicyclist getting hit because somebody sending a stupid text message saying lol," says another student.
According to the National Safety Council, there are 100,000 texting related accidents a year that cause life changing injuries and deaths and texting ranks as the number one mode of communication among teens.
"We found that most teens, 89-percent feel the need to respond to a text within five minutes so I think it's just that feeling that they need to stay in constant communication and unfortunately people are doing that behind the wheel," says AT&T.
Once the day was over, about 600 students had taken AT&T's pledge not to text and drive.
In Arkansas, it is illegal to text and drive and violators could face a fine of up to 100 dollars.
Click here to watch this report.
AT&T representatives were on campus Thursday to let them try out a simulator that recreates real-life scenarios of what happens when you text and drive.
Abby Calloway was one of nearly 100 students who took a seat in the simulator.
"It was pretty realistic. There were a lot of unpredictable places where cars ran out in front of you or swerved into your lane or did something unexpected that you know that happens everyday," she said.
From simulators to the classroom, the message to students about the dangers of texting while driving continued with a video of teenagers who were killed in car accidents while texting.
"The video that they showed us in class was really effective for a lot of people. It just shows you what one small text can effect an entire lifetime," Calloway says.
"I watched the video and it was really sad like people losing their lives like a bicyclist getting hit because somebody sending a stupid text message saying lol," says another student.
According to the National Safety Council, there are 100,000 texting related accidents a year that cause life changing injuries and deaths and texting ranks as the number one mode of communication among teens.
"We found that most teens, 89-percent feel the need to respond to a text within five minutes so I think it's just that feeling that they need to stay in constant communication and unfortunately people are doing that behind the wheel," says AT&T.
Once the day was over, about 600 students had taken AT&T's pledge not to text and drive.
In Arkansas, it is illegal to text and drive and violators could face a fine of up to 100 dollars.
Click here to watch this report.
