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Today was possibly the only time teens were encouraged to drive while eating, texting and applying makeup. Allstate sponsored a teen driving challenge to demonstrate how unsafe distracted driving can be.
At one point or another, we're all guilty of it, not just teens. But car crashes claim 5,000 teen lives a year. Whether it's talking on your cell, eating or even just changing radio stations, they're all major distractions.
Loud passengers, radio up and texting all while trying to navigate a course with cones, that's what some students did today. Student driver Brian Sanders said, "That was freaking crazy."
Kearns High School student Austin Solt said, "I don't think I got any cones that time, but I missed some red lights. With me trying to use my cell phone and texting and stuff it's a lot harder."
And Courtney Mcafee was told to open a yogurt and eat while driving. She says, "It was difficult. I opened it, but it was all over my face."
Solt knows from his brother's experience not to drive distracted. He says his brother was late for work and was texting his boss when he slid off the freeway and hit a wall.
While most parents and drivers think alcohol is the leading cause of teen crashes, 87 percent of the time it's distractions and driver error.
Allstate's study ranks Salt Lake City among the top 10 safest cities in terms of teen crashes. For every 100,000 teens in the city, 17 will crash and kill someone every year. So this demonstration, though fun for the students, is meant to teach them something.
Jennifer Lindsay, with Allstate, says, "To change a radio station, it takes one second to look down and do that and hit a cone, and that could be a kid, a life. Their heads are down. They're not looking up at the lights. The distractions talking on the cell phone, texting. That's why they're hitting the cones."
Allstate is hoping the teens will share what they learned today. Sanders says, "[I learned] not to do those things that distract you because it'll throw off your driving, and it could be costly."
For more information on teen driving statistics and how to get your teen involved in safe driving, click on the related links to the right of this story.
E-mail: ngonzales @ksl.com
