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SIDNEY, Iowa -- Fewer teens in Sidney may be using their cell phones while driving after a distracted-driving program presented by five Iowa Western Community College nursing students.
The program included statistics related to distracted driving, mostly cell phone usage, and several short video clips about young people who have been killed because they were driving while distracted or were hit by a distracted driver.
Two Sidney students, Noah McKeever and Allie Gammell, tried to steer a toy shopping cart around orange cones while texting in order to demonstrate how easily distracted a texting driver can be.
Iowa Western nursing students Jennifer Mullenberg of Shenandoah, Iowa, Lacey Huntley of Hamburg, Iowa, Jamie Behrends and Jeremy Behrends, both of Sidney, and Darcy Eitzen of Red Oak, Iowa, presented the program to Sidney junior high and high school students last week.
Mullenberg said their group presented the program because it is relevant to what is going on today.
“There are a lot of lives lost over something that is 100 percent preventable,” Mullenberg said.
“We understand that everyone has cell phones and to have them in your vehicle is a good thing, but we want them (students) to know they can wait the 15 minutes until they get home, or at least pull over, to talk or text,” Jamie Behrends said.
One statistic Mullenberg shared with the students was that 6,000 people were killed in 2008 in distracted-driving accidents.
“Answering a cell phone call or text message isn’t as important as a human life,” Mullenberg said.
“I think a lot of times high school kids think they are invincible,” Jamie Behrends said. “They need to realize something serious could happen over answering a text or answering the phone.”
Gammell, a senior who tried to steer the shopping cart while texting, said a few years ago she had to learn the hard way to not text and drive.
“My freshman year I was texting on my way to the pool over the summer and I rolled my mom’s vehicle I was only 200 yards from my house,” Gammell said. “I had over 26 stitches in my arm, and my little brother had 10 in his knee.”
Gammell said she hasn’t used her cell phone while driving since the accident.
“It’s so easy to hurt yourself, or others, by texting while driving,” she said. “It’s not worth the risk.”
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