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‘It can happen to you’
Speaker warns teens about the dangers of driving
Published Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Every 24 hours, 15 teenagers die in automobile accidents. Six thousand a year.
Sadly, 70 percent of those could be avoided.
The statistics are as staggering as they are sobering.
“Six thousand precious lives gone each year,” Bill Richardson, co-founder of “It Won’t Happen To Me,” told an audience of teenagers at Pike Liberal Arts School on Wednesday. “But heaven can wait.”
You could have heard a pin drop as the students watched as one picture after another of young people, who had lost their lives in car accidents, flashed on the screen.
The students sat almost motionless as Richardson told the story of each young person and how they died – needlessly.
Richardson is the co-founder of “It Won’t Happen To Me,” a non-profit corporation dedicated to reducing the number one cause of teen deaths – car crashes – through education and awareness.
Richardson told how, in the blink of an eye, a life could come to a violent end. He also told how that life could have been saved with a click of the seatbelt or a cautious glace at the highway ahead.
He told the story of a young man who took his eye off the road for just a split second to input a CD.
“Matthew Dwyer was trapped in the car,” Richardson said. “His two friends got out through a broken window, but they couldn’t get him out. They stood helplessly and watched as their friend was burned alive.”
Richardson said the moral of that story is don’t multitask when driving. And, that means no eating or drinking, no cell phones, no inputting CDs or doing anything that would be distracting from the task at hand – safe driving.
Richardson was emphatic about the use of seatbelts.
“Twelve thousand lives are saved each year by seatbelts,” he said. “Maybe you’ve heard that someone might have died in a car accident if they’d had on their seatbelt. That could happen, but the chances are so miniscule that it’s not even worth mentioning. It would be about the same chance as getting struck by lightning or winning the lottery.”
Richardson told the students that having teenagers is tough on parents.
“Take into consideration that your parents want you to be safe and that they worry every time you walk out of the house and get in a car,” he said. “Parents are not supposed to outlive their children. It’s not supposed to work that way. Don’t make it work like that.
“Every time you get behind the wheel, the decisions that you make affect other people. Remember that.”
At the conclusion of the program, Sgt. Benny Scarbrough, Troy Police Department public information officer, spoke briefly to the students.
“You are about to make history here at Pike Liberal Arts,” Scarbrough said in reference to the Patriots’ State Championship football game on Friday. “But don’t make another kind of history. Be here to enjoy it. Don’t cut it short.”
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Comments
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 9:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Awareness like this is very much needed in schools ALL over this country. "Room Enough to Live" is another great video for teens (adults as well) to see.
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 9:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I meant "Room to Live".
Posted by NotPerfect (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 9:42 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think that the city & county boards of education should take on the financial responsibility & have something like this for all of the students of the county. From what I understand this was funded by a private couple....I may be wrong about that. I would love for my children to have the opportunity to attend something like this. PTO's take note!
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 9:46 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Is Driver's Education still offered in school? When I was in school...we HAD to take it. I don't hear many students talking about this class. Including awareness such as this in the Driver's Education course would be a good idea. After all, there's more to driving than getting under the wheel.
Posted by saltwater (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I am glad to hear of something like this. I too think it should be for all the students in Pike County. Sadly, we have lost far to many young people to car accicdents in the last few years. If the young people were to be reminded how many and who we have lost, they might start to believe it really can happen to them or one of their friends.
Posted by chhs1994 (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 11:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I think this is a good idea but parents need to be held accountable. There are too many 16 year olds driving around in sports cars and going way too fast up and down George Wallace Drive. It is time for parents to take accountability and enforce some rules on their children.
Posted by Showdown2 (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 12:22 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I think a better idea would be to hold the drivers accountable. I know it sounds radical to hold a person responsible for his/her own actions, but give it a try.
Posted by Virtuous (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 12:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
I agree with you Showdown2 on this one. Why should the parents be held accountable? A parent can go far and beyond the call of duty to enforce rules and regulations for their kids on driving (any and everything for that matter). It's up to the child to follow them. The driver needs to be held accountable. Of course, if the parent is allowing their under-aged, no license, uninsured child operate a vehicle, then yes, they should be held accountable.
Posted by Jennifer (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 5:12 p.m. (Suggest removal)
This progarm was funded by South AL Electric Cooperative. It has been brought to the attention of the city and county school systems, so if some of you who have kids there will push for it...it may happen. The website for the group is www.itwonthappentome.org.
Posted by shiftingshadows (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 6:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)
showdown finally said something intelligent.... there is hope!
Posted by alum (anonymous) on November 20, 2008 at 8:14 p.m. (Suggest removal)
yes drivers education is still offered and we have had programs like this at CHHS before.
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