MARION - Marion High School sophomore Cynthia Randolph was involved in a car accident last year. On Thursday, she had the chance to see the road from the point of view of a semi truck driver when she and other MHS students attended the ninth annual Traffic Safety Days event at the Pavilion.
Designed to reinforce and enhance what is taught to Driver's Education students, the four-day long event uses presentations and active participation to drive home the importance of road safety.
"We never thought we would have the kind of growth and success we've experienced," Williamson County Sheriff's Office Deputy Brian Murrah said. "There's nowhere else in the country that's been able to do this the way that Southern Illinois has put it together."
Each day features students from different schools, and is formatted like a regular school day. Students are divided into six groups that rotate through nine safe-driving presentations.
Topics of instruction include:
- Work Zone Safety, a 20-minute presentation by the Illinois Department of Transportation that covers the hazards and risks presented by road construction and work zones.
- Motorcycle Awareness, a presentation by the Illinois State Police Motorcycle Enforcement Bureau from the point of view of a motorcyclist on what automobile drivers should look out for when in close proximity of a motorcycle.
- Distracted Driving, a presentation by State Farm Insurance on the dangers of cell phone use while driving.
Included with the classroom-style presentations were interactive simulations like the seatbelt convincer, roll-over simulator, and standard driving simulations. The seatbelt convincer demonstrates the importance of a seatbelt by riding a mechanized sled down a small incline, which stops abruptly to mimic a 5-7 mph crash. The roll-over simulator uses crash test dummies to show what happens to passengers and drivers who do not wear seat belts.
The standard driving simulations presented by the Williamson County Sheriff's Office allow students to drive golf carts and adult-sized tricycles through two courses, while either wearing Fatal Vision Goggles (drunk-driving goggles) or texting on their phones.
Marion students either in Driver's Education, or about to enter the class, had strong reactions to the program's lessons.
Randolph said that although she learned her lesson after being involved in a crash last year, she still took home new knowledge.
"It's kind of an eye-opener, and I'm learning things I hadn't learned before," she said.
Murrah pointed out the success of the program over the past nine years, with statistics from the state of Illinois.
According to the Illinois Department of Transportation, since the Traffic Safety Days began in 2009, the amount of 16-year-olds in Williamson County involved in crashes dropped from more than 100 to about 60 in one year.
The number of 18-year-olds dropped from about 130 to about 100 in the same time span. According to Murrah, the amount of 16-21 year-olds involved in crashes in Williamson County has steadily dropped since the program first began.
