A man is driving down the highway with his wife and approximately four-year-old daughter when an oncoming driver, texting at the wheel, veers in their lane, smashing into their vehicle. With the parents dead instantly, the daughter says over and over “mommy, daddy wake up.” This was a scenario from a graphic video.
The “Save a Life” Tour hosted a Distracted Driving event aboard Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, Calif., Nov. 4, to teach Marines about the consequences of distracted driving.
The event began with an upsetting video showing many different outcomes of distracted driving, including portions with a car hitting a child and people suffering brain damage due to texting and driving.
People text and drive every day, not considering the pain and suffering they can inflict on themselves, a loved one or a complete stranger, explained Richardson.
“I was driving to Miramar a few days ago and a biker going about 90 mph passed me,” said John Richardson, an instructor for Distracted Driving and a Grand Rapids, Mich., native. “He let go of his handlebars, reached into his coat pocket, grabbed his phone and started texting while he was passing everyone like it was no big deal. He could have looked up and plowed into a car or a tree. It was unreal, the man was lucky he did not wreck.”
The “Save a Life” Tour has been travelling to many military bases along the West Coast the last few months to show service members how many ways they can ruin or end someone’s life just by replying to a text message.
Richardson explained that last year, over 20,000 people between ages 16 and 24 died from distracted driving.
After the video, there were driving simulators that require the driver to immediately reply to a phone programmed to text every few seconds, while trying to pay attention to the road.
Richardson explained how hard it was to stay at a steady speed while texting in the program.
Some people could get through the simulation without wrecking, but no one finished without breaking some kind of law, whether it was speeding or running a red light.
Distracted Driving had a display of a coffin for the event to show the possible outcome of distracted driving.
“I think Distracted Driving is a great program,” said Richardson. “More people die from distracted driving than from AIDS or cancer, so it is important that we let people know how dangerous it is.”