BLOGS

Remember those shocking — and effective — anti-drunk-driving campaigns from high school? Cops hauled in wrecked cars crunched into shredded heaps. Wheelchair-bound teens told gut-wrenching stories. Heartbroken moms spoke about the loss of their kids.

Fast-forward to the future. Joining drunk driving as the newest highway horror is distracted driving. That’s right … phoning and texting from behind the wheel.

Two weeks ago, Wenatchee High School launched a distracted-driving campaign sponsored by the Wenatchee Police Department and two local companies, Farmers Insurance and Precision Collision Auto Body.

Arriving at school that morning, kids saw a beautiful Ford F-150 pickup bashed head-on in a distracted driving accident. A distracted driving video played during lunch periods. And kids were asked to sign a “DN’T TXT & Drive” banner and pledge not to text while cruising down the road.

According to Mark Lovell at Precision Collision, about 18 percent of distraction related fatalities on American highways are cell-phone related. He noted that state law bans all drivers from using hand-held devices and texting while driving. Novice drivers are banned from using both hand-held and hands-free devices.

So, are you driving along, reading this on your smart phone?

Comments

Want to comment on this story? All Wenatchee World members are invited to comment on stories, by using the form below. Please know that we at wenatcheeworld.com hope our site is useful, entertaining and civil. So we'll delete comments that are obscene, abusive or way off topic. We appreciate it when readers use the "suggest removal" button to flag inappropriate comments. For more about interacting with the site, see our Use Policy.

Use the comment form below to begin a discussion about this content.

Sign in to comment