Students model adults’ driving habits

Published 10:00 am Friday, June 19, 2015

It’s that time of the year again — graduations, proms, and end-of-the-school-year parties.

It’s also the time of year when firefighters see far too many motor vehicle collisions and lives lost. Most often, these are tragedies that could have been avoided.

Motor vehicle collisions are still the leading cause of death for our children ages 10-18. How can we get through to our youth about the dangers of drinking or texting while driving?

Do you know who has the biggest influence on the choices made by young drivers? My first thought was that it would be their peers but, according to research, a big factor in whether a teenager engages in risky distracted driving behavior, or driving while under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, is whether they see their parents engaging in that risky behavior.

Marsha Masters, manager of Kitsap County Traffic Safety-Target Zero and a retired school teacher in the Central Kitsap School District, became involved with Mothers Against Drunk Driving after one of her students perished in a collision involving a drunken driver.

“If everything I do only amounts to saving just one life, that one life is enough,” Masters said. “One life lost is one too many.”

I want to take a moment to remind parents that their decisions affect others, even their teenagers. Look at these statistics: Every day in America, another 28 people die as a result of drunken-driving collisions. That’s more than one every hour. A driver who is talking on their cell phone is as impaired as a driver with a .08 blood-alcohol level. A driver who is texting is as impaired as a driver with a .16 blood alcohol level. That’s double the legal limit. Text messaging makes a crash up to 23 times more likely.

Maybe your teenager won’t listen, but they are watching.

Jody Matson
Community relations specialist
Poulsbo Fire Department