NORWICH – While teen drivers only account for a fraction of the total miles driven in the United States each year, they make up a disproportionately high percentage of accident fatalities.
“Don’t let that be you,” said Trooper Richard Siefert, a 24-year veteran of the New York State Police, as he addressed the 81 Norwich High School students enrolled in the school’s 6-week driver’s education program.
According to the long-time law enforcement officer, if teenagers would just buckle up, slow down and stay off their cell phones while driving, they would not only reduce their chance of having an accident, but increase their chances of surviving one as well.
New York State Trooper Peter Grunder, who serves as the school and community outreach coordinator for Troop C, accompanied Siefert to Norwich High School. Together they gave a two-part presentation on the importance of wearing a seat belt and factors which contribute to motor vehicle accidents, particularly among teens.
Using a specially designed simulator, the state police officers demonstrated what happens to passengers who are not properly belted in when a vehicle is involved in a rollover accident at 25 miles an hour.
“Rollovers account for a tenth of all accidents, but one fifth of fatalities,” Grunder explained. This point was driven home to students when, on one of the first revolutions, the toddler-sized crash dummy which had been unrestrained in the passenger compartment of the simulator was thrown from the vehicle.
“Weight times speed is the force that is on you in an accident,” Grunder said, explaining that at a crash speed of 30 miles an hour, there would be 300 pounds of force on a 10-pound child. “There is no way you could restrain that child in an accident.”
In a second demonstration, the adult-sized “driver” was first partially, then fully ejected from the vehicle to land with a thud on the asphalt.
Helping to illustrate the State Police Officers’ message was the fact that the third passenger in the vehicle, an infant in a car seat, remained secured in the vehicle during both demonstrations.
“The seat belt keeps you in and lets the car keep you safe,” Siefert said. “You can’t prevent all crashes, but you can put your seat belt on every time.”
The students then moved inside, where they heard startling statistics about teen accident deaths and the factors that contribute to these crashes.
According to Siefert, teen drivers have the highest crash risk of any age group. More than 55,000 teenagers die in motor vehicle accidents in the U.S. each year, making it the leading cause of death among American teens. Another 450,000 are injured but survive these accidents, he said, and 30,000 are hospitalized.
Driver distraction is a major contributing factor in many accidents, he explained, particularly among teens.
“I know how attached you guys are to your phone,” Siefert, who serves as the school resource officer at both Sherburne-Earlville and Oxford. “I’ll ask you a question: Is that phone worth your life or someone else’s?”
It is not just talking on the phone, but texting that is a danger while driving. Grunder called upon two volunteers to demonstrate just how long it takes to send a text, then explained how much distance a vehicle can travel in that amount of time while the driver is focused on something other than driving.
It took one student 14 seconds, the other 23 to send the sample text as requested. It would take only 2 second, he said, for a vehicle going 60 miles an hour can travel 3/4 of the length of a football field.
“What can happen in that distance?” he asked.
The presentation also discussed driving while fatigued which, according to Siefert, can be as dangerous as driving while intoxicated.
“If you are drowsy, you are just like you are at the legal limit,” he explained.
According to Drivers Education Instructor John Mason, who has been involved with the Norwich High School program for 29 years, presentations such as the one given by the two Troopers are integral parts of the course.
Other guests speakers have included representatives from the Norwich City Police Department, Wayne Emmons from State Farm Insurance and Acting City Court Judge Jim Cushman.
These presentations count toward the 24 hours of classroom instruction students who participate in the program are required by complete by the state. In addition, students are required to spend 24 hours in the car, 18 of which are spent observing and 6 actually driving. All driving is supervised by Mason or one of the other two instructors, Jerry Locke and Dale Johnson, both of whom teach during the regular school year in Oxford.
The three act under the direction of Patti Giltner, who serves as principal of the driver’s education program.
According to Mason, the overall purpose of the course is not simply to prepare students to pass the New York State road test, but rather to help students develop the behaviors and attitude they need to be safe drivers.