As summer approaches, the 100 Deadliest Days are coming. The period between Memorial Day and Labor Day are known as the 100 riskiest days on the road with the highest levels of accidents of any time of the year. A big part of the reason why these days are the 100 deadliest is because kids are off from school, are driving around with friends, and are driving around unsupervised.
One big concern when young teens are on spring break is the risk the teenagers will decide to operate a motor vehicle while impaired by drugs or alcohol. Your Houston News reported recently on a program aimed at showing teenagers the dangers of impaired driving.
The program is called Shattered Lives and it visits Montgomery County high schools during each spring season to give presentations aimed at discouraging young people from driving under the influence of alcohol.
Program Aims to Show Students the Dangers of Drunk Driving
The Shattered Lives program begins with a realistic representation of rescue from a motor vehicle accident. The presentation is intended to be as realistic as possible. Approximately 20 students from the high school are chosen to participate in the program. These students are made up as actual victims and they are laid down among actual wrecked vehicles. EMS workers and fire fighters come to the scene of the fake collision and they provide "treatment" to the teens who are playing parts in the presentation.
Following the presentation, students are given the opportunity to talk with counselors in case the crashes hit too close to home for any students. Students then hear a speech from a speaker who has a personal connection to people who were killed in drunk riving collisions. The goal is for the program to be memorable and to really drive home the consequences of drunk driving which statistics or abstract warnings cannot fully illustrate.
Teaching Texas kids about the risks of drunk driving is important, as teen drivers remain among one of the highest-risk demographics for driving under the influence of alcohol. Teen drivers may also present dangers due to their own inexperience reacting to potentially dangerous situations while on area roads and highways.
Drunk driving crashes have a tremendous personal and financial cost. A sober driver may have little time to react to the reckless behavior of a driver under the influence of alcohol, resulting in serious consequences ranging from serious property damage to injuries requiring years of medication and physical therapy. Even worse, accidents involving impaired drivers oftentimes claim the lives of innocent victims as well as impaired drivers.
If teens avoid impaired driving and stay sober, hopefully they can keep themselves and others safe and can avoid hurting themselves or others during the 100 deadliest days and beyond.