Teen Driving

OTSD SPOTLIGHT

Gardner South Wilmington High School (GSWHS) is the little school that could. With a student population of only 214, GSWHS was awarded with the distinguished honor of first place in their region for their participation in Operation Teen Safe Driving (OTSD). Their compelling Road 2 Reality production put them ahead of the rest. The event led attendees through the experiences of one drunk driver and those forever affected by her choices. Activities included a fatal vision demonstration using the fatal vision goggles, safety belt checks with prizes for those wearing their safety belts, safe driving themed basketball games, and a dramatic Grim Reaper Day of the Departed.

This one event not only took a lot of planning hours, but a lot of time to execute. This event had over 100 student and adult volunteers, 30 local businesses donated food, products, services and funding. The Lions Club sponsored a hospitality room and over 16 organizations participated in the community resource room. Over 300 participants took the tour on the Road 2 Reality!

What IS the Road 2 Reality?

Every ten minutes a tour departed on the Road 2 Reality to observe the consequences that can come from decisions made by teen drivers. The tour consisted of:

A resource room, where different organizations and businesses presented interactive activities for students and their parents to participate in while waiting for their tour to depart.
A scenario involving a teen party with drinking and driving was given to all of the participants on the tour.
An “Accident Scene” (a real display outside of the school).
911 was called and then dispatched (Gardner South Wilmington (GSW) Fire Department responded).
The police arrived and arrested the driver at the scene.
Victims were taken by ambulance to the “ER” (a room set up in the school as an ER, staffed with real ER doctors and nurses).
The driver was taken to the “Courthouse” (another room set up in the school) and went before a judge.
The driver was sent to jail. While in jail the driver pleaded her case to the audience and reflects on the mistakes she made and the consequences that came about due to her bad choices.
REWIND: The audience had the chance to replay the evening and make alternative choices and ultimately learn how to make better choices not only to save their lives, but their futures. The audience also viewed a video of the student's future when better choices were made.
As the tour groups left the REWIND scene, they entered a hallway to see a memorial along the “road.” That led to another room where Josh Jahn awaited. Josh's wife, Amanda and two children, Ryan (4) and Kaitlyn (11 months) were killed on October 6, 2008 at the hands of a drunk driver. The group viewed an emotional video tribute to the Jahn family. When the video ended Mr. Jahn shared his story with the shell shocked group.
At the end, attendees were asked to fill out a survey about the event. Students were asked to sign a pledge with their parents promising to not drink or text while driving.

Congratulations to the OTSD students and student advisors who ran this successful and educational teen driving initiative! We look forward to seeing what the next school year will bring!

By Marianne Hankins, OTSD Coordinator

OTSD/DSFL EXPERIENCE

I attended the Operation Teen Safe Driving/Driving Skills for Life (OTSD/DSFL) program as a Project Ignition team member in April of my sophomore year at Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley High School. The OTSD/DSFL program is a once in a lifetime opportunity that teaches young drivers the importance of safe driving as well as driving techniques for emergency situations. The program is set up in courses with professional drivers teaching specific driving techniques. I was nervous about the course that taught techniques for skidding because that is something I had never had the opportunity to practice before. However, with the help of a professional driving instructor and a few practices in a controlled environment, I left the course feeling more confident in my ability to counter skidding.

Almost two years after participating in OTSD/DSFL in April of my senior year, I lost the “invincibility” that I had previously been driving with. I was on my way home driving down a road I had driven a million times before. I was less than five miles from my house when I totaled my car and risked my own life. Driving too fast, I came to a “T” in the road and a jog that had just been graveled, and before I knew it, I lost control of my car. Suddenly the world around me was nothing but a blur as I tried to keep my car on the road and avoid a telephone pole. Then a harsh reality hit me. It's hard to put into words the thoughts that went through my mind in those five seconds, but I was without a doubt overwhelmed with panic. When you don't have time to think, you can't rely on what you learn in a classroom or textbook. Instead, you must rely on instinct and more importantly, experience. I have had my fair share of close calls on snow, ice and gravel and every time I have relied on the practice that I had in the skidding course in the OTSD/DSFL program. Though I wasn't able to entirely avoid the crash in this case, I was able to steer away from a head on collision with a telephone pole. I collided with the telephone pole, but was able to guide my car so that it hit the rear driver's side door instead of my door. Because of this, I escaped serious injury. I suffered a few cuts and bruises, but walked away with my life.

One poor decision left me with a totaled car, a broken telephone pole and a lot of emotional upset, but those things are small prices to pay in exchange for my life. I have been all over the “what if's” of that day. What if I had chosen a different road to drive home on? What if I had slowed down sooner? And the most difficult question, what if I had never learned to handle a car in the event of a skid? Maybe luck was just on my side that day. I will never really know. But I do know that without the practice of controlling a car in an emergency skid, I may not have been here today, and for that I am grateful.

By Kayla Dunahee, Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley High School

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