PALM HARBOR, Fla. — Many of us are guilty of checking "just one" text when we're behind the wheel. Texting, eating, glancing down at your GPS — it's all distracted driving.
Avoiding this is something that can be learned by our youngest drivers and it's something the Pinellas County Sheriff's Office is teaching to teens.
As a part of a two-day segment of driver's ed, sheriff's deputies are brought in to explain what distracted driving is, why you should avoid it and the serious impacts it can have.
On day one, students listened in on a video presentation with various props to accomplish this component.
Day two included some hands-on experience.
- Multi-Purpose Vehicle (MPV) Exercise - A licensed student must navigate a MPV through a course while facing multiple distractions such as texting, a radio playing and objects such as balls and pedestrians appearing in the roadway.
- Pedal Carts with Impairment Goggles Exercise - Students were tasked with navigating pedal carts through a course as they wore goggles simulating various levels of impairment such as intoxication, drowsiness and "buzzed" driving. This exercise showed the effects of being distracted by fatigue or substance abuse and the operator's slowed response when distracted.
- Straight Line Walk and Turn Exercise - Students took turns walking a straight line and turning while being asked to respond to questions aloud. This exercise demonstrated the difficulty created when pedestrians are distracted while simultaneously completing a physical task and a mental task.
While some of the scenarios were exaggerated, all of these distractions can cause serious harm on the road.
"I've told too many parents, had to knock on their door and say I'm sorry, your son or daughter has been involved in a crash or either in the hospital or in the morgue," Corporal Skip Crandall shared with a group of teens.
All of the students taking the course have their driver's permits. After hitting a sign, and a few traffic cones, then losing their footing with drunk goggles on, it was enough to drive this message home to these teens:
"Keep your two eyes on the road, two hands on the wheel, especially until they get the build that confidence up to maintain the roadway and maintain all the rules on the road," Dep. Megan Tindall said.
April is "Distracted Driving Month." This program is taught county-wide throughout the school year.
Malique Rankin is a general assignment reporter with 10 Tampa Bay. You can email her story ideas at mrankin@10tampabay.com and follow her Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages.