EDMOND —
Edmond Memorial High School FCCLA members hosted the “Drive Aware Oklahoma Week” news conference Monday with a panel kicking off the week to raise awareness of the results of what distracted driving can be.
Chuck Mai with Oklahoma AAA read a proclamation signed by Gov. Mary Fallin Naming Oct. 21-27 “Drive Aware Oklahoma Week” which focuses attention on distracted driving.
Mai said, “We are seeing an epidemic of distracted driving and distracted driving is risky driving.” He added, “Cell phone use was the major distraction in crashes that killed nearly 1,000 people and injured another 24,000 people nationwide in 2009.”
Mai said the word must get out that cell phone users need to stop texting and put the phone down while driving.
“Drivers need to concentrate on what is unfolding as they drive down the road,” Mai said.
“Distracted driving is the No. 1 killer of American teens,” said Cherrish Abinah, a senior at Edmond Memorial High school, co-president of the school’s FCCLA chapter and president for FCCLA District C-5, another speaker at the news conference. “Our goal is to raise awareness and put an end to this deadly statistic.”
Cherrish added, “I have heard a lot of stories from my friends about close calls, but the scariest stories are the ones you will never hear because those victims are dead.”
Drive Aware Oklahoma Week has a direct tie-in with “Stop the Texts, Stop the Wrecks,” a texting and driving prevention campaign by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation, the Ad Council, the office of the State Attorney General and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
Coming the week before Halloween, “Drive Aware Oklahoma Week” is a reminder to motorists to stay safe and to watch out for trick-or-treaters on Oct. 31.
Among the presenters Monday was 1985 Memorial graduate, Gina Harris, who traveled from Tulsa to share her story of the night she was told her daughter Brittanie Montgomery had been killed.
“When I opened my door four officers were standing there, and I was told my daughter had been in an accident,” Harris said.
Harris said the level of shock was numbing. Her daughter, a University of Central Oklahoma student had been on the phone talking with friends.
“She was traveling 62 miles an hour when she lost control of her vehicle and crossed four lanes of traffic,” Harris said. “She did not stand a chance because she was talking on the phone.”
Harris added, “No one wants to live through what my family and I have gone through, to live that nightmare, opening your front door to the police informing you one of your children is never coming home. Put the cell phone down and just drive.”
Oklahoma Highway Patrol Capt. Chris West said, “Statistics show young people texting are 23 percent more likely to get in a wreck than those who are not texting.”
West said no matter what phone call is coming in or what a text is saying, “It can wait.”
West added if a call is that important to take, pull off to the side of the road and stop first.
Sen. Constance Johnson representing District 48 in the Oklahoma Senate introduced the first bill on texting and driving in 2006. The bill did not pass but Johnson said she was glad to see students willing to take up the banner of not driving and texting.
“My challenge to you is to go to the next level,” Johnson said. “Our government only works when we are involved, and texting impacts young people disproportionately.”
Johnson urged the students to be involved in making decisions that affect the state, and when legislation is introduced in 2013 to be part of the solution.
“Distracted driving of any kind is unacceptable,” Johnson said. “We can save lives working together.”
Capt. Dee Patty with the Oklahoma City Police Department said, “Our children learn from us. The do what they see us do.”
Patty’s 22-year-old daughter lost her arm connected to a distracted driving accident.
“Show them we can be responsible,” Patty said. “It is up to us to teach our children the right thing to do and help them to learn to make the right decisions.”
Patty said, “I’ve had that knock on my door, and I have been the one to knock on another parent’s door. It is up to us as adults to educate, set the example and be safe in every thing we do.”
“Back in the 1960s there was a popular song that said ‘keep your mind on your driving, keep your hands on the wheel.’ Here we are 50 years later, and it’s still a great message,” said Alice Collinsworth with the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office. “Driving requires your full attention, and any distraction can be deadly.”
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Related Photos
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PATTY MILLER | THE EDMOND SUN Memorial High School Principal Debbie Bendick, far left, speaks with, from left, Cherrish Abinah, co-president of EMHS FCCLA; Angie Kamermayer of INTEGRIS Health; Chuck Mai, vice president of AAA Oklahoma, and Sen. Constance Johnson, D-Oklahoma City, after a program at Memorial High School about distracted driving.
Discussion
Crashes happen in blink of an eye
Oklahoma drivers urged to limit distractions, drive aware
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