Texting and driving to teach a lesson

JENKINTOWN, Pa. - October 12, 2011 (WPVI) -- Students from Jenkintown High School volunteered to demonstrate the dangers of distracted driving.

"In recent years we've seen a rise that the cause of the accident is because of texting while driving," personal injury attorney Louisa Chen said.

Chen, of the firm White and Williams, represents accident victims. The law firm began this community outreach program last year.

She tells students about some of her cases, lives destroyed in a matter of seconds when real life teen drivers have reached for their cell phones.

Chen gave Action News one example, "[The driver] overcompensated the curve, she came back into the roadway, and she crashed into my client, whose truck rolled and hit a telephone pole, and he was catastrophically injured."

The local firehouse volunteered their space.

Upper Gwynedd Detective Sergeant and StreetSafe Driving Academy instructor Scott Clark set up the simulation.

Teens go through the motions of driving a stationary car, seeing the road in their headsets. All three licensed teens crashed in this simulation.

These simulations will be part of a presentation in front of the entire school. On a later date, parents will be invited because they're not exempt from this lesson either.

"The basic problem of texting and talking on the phone is across the board," Clark said.

For more information:

Teen Driving Summit on Facebook

Educating Teens on How 2 SECONDS Can Change Lives

Get more Local/State »

pennsylvania, montgomery county, texting, driving, teens, local/state, katherine scott

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