Future drivers tackle dangers
MARQUETTE — For 14-year-old Marquette Senior High School freshman Haley Thams, a driver’s license is likely in her not-so-distant future.
“I’m so excited,” she said. “I’ll probably start driver’s ed next year.”
Although her milestone 16th birthday and right-of-passage to the driver’s seat is within reach, she said she is aware of the dangers that privilege can bring and is taking it seriously.
On Friday, Thams was one of many ninth-grade students who participated in a discussion about distracted driving.
“Basically, distracted driving is any activity that would divert a person’s attention away from driving,” said Craig Marker, Marquette City Police Department youth services officer. “There’s three different types of distractions — visual, mental and manual.”
Visual distractions, said Marker, include any activity that diverts a driver’s eyes from the road, while manual distractions, such as reaching for something in the back seat, take the driver’s hand or hands off the wheel.
Mental, or cognitive, distractions include engaging in conversations with passengers or anything else that would take an individual’s focus off the task of driving.
All are dangerous, he said.
“It’s drivers of all ages,” Marker said. “I’ve seen people eating, reading, writing on pieces of paper, putting on makeup. We’ve all seen stuff like that, and it increases greatly the chance of an accident.”
In an effort to educate youth about the dangers of distracted driving before they are ever behind the wheel of a vehicle, Marker on Friday spoke to ninth-grade students at MSHS.
Teacher Lucy Anthony said students in her lifetime health class are 14-15 years old. The course, she said, covers subjects including social and emotional health, nutrition, physical activity, safety, drugs and alcohol and healthy relationships.
Marker’s presentation was part of the course’s unit on safety, Anthony said.
“It’s a great opportunity for the kids to get an outside perspective,” she said. “Hearing from professionals from different fields is helpful.”
Anthony said she hopes the presentation will help remind the students to stay focused on the road and make smart decisions while operating a vehicle.
“All of these students are going to be driving soon, and they’ll be faced with more distractions than ever before,” she said. “This is an important reminder to keep at the task of driving.”
Thams said distracted driving includes a range of things, from eating while driving to talking on the phone to looking at stuff on the side of the street.
“Teenagers don’t realize how distracting these things are on the road,” Thams said. “They could be in danger and not even know it.”
Particularly concerning, she said, is the use of cell phones.
“(Teens) like to know what’s going on on social media,” she said. “They really care about what other people are doing, and it can be like wearing a blindfold while driving.”
According to Marker’s presentation, individuals who text while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash than those who don’t.
The most vulnerable population, he said, are teenagers.
Traffic crashes are the No. 1 cause of teen deaths, according to distraction.gov. Ten percent of drivers 15 to 19 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the accident.
Thams said she plans to take a driver’s education course next year, and will use the knowledge she has learned in health class to decrease her chances of being involved in an accident.
“I’ll always have my phone down and out of my reach,” she said.
For more information on distracted driving, visit distraction.gov.
Kelsie Thompson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. Her email address is kthompson@miningjournal.net.