New Canaan High School establishes example for student driver safety
New Canaan performed mock car accidents on April 25, teaching students how to be better drivers.
New Canaan High School conducted its safe driving week to draw attention to unsafe teen driving from April 25-29. Students believe that Staples High School should strongly consider performing its own safe driving week, considering the increase in the number of accidents happening here in our parking lots.
The New Canaan Police, Fire and EMS departments ran a mock car accident on April 26. On April 27, students were educated about driving under the influence. To show students the level of harm that being intoxicated affects your vision, students wore fatal vision goggles to simulate the experience. Choices Matter Organization, a group that educates young adults about the consequences of life-changing decisions and the importance of thinking before acting, presented on April 28. New Canaan High School Principal Bill Egan expressed his approval of the safe driving week.
“It is great to have [the public safety agencies] back and putting on wonderful programs for the kids to help keep them safe,” Egan said.
Many Staples students saw how much the New Canaan program aided people that are learning to drive. Alannah Morris ’24, a new driver, believes that having safe driving education at Staples would help her become more comfortable both in and out of a vehicle.
“I think we should have a mock car accident. It would benefit students and teach them how to drive their cars safely and avoid accidents,” Morris said. “I’m learning how to drive and it would make me feel a lot safer if students were shown the results of unsafe driving.”
Ashley Podziba ’24, who also recently starting her driving experience, shares the same desire for a safe driving initiative.
“While it is important to study the manual,” Podziba said, “the safety program organized by New Canaan dramatically shows the importance of driving safely and not using alcohol or drugs. I think this sort of education should be here at Staples.”
The issue of unsafe teen driving is not unique to New Canaan but also occurs around Staples and throughout the United States. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) described the dangers of unsafe driving, which New Canaan hoped to mitigate with the safe driving week.
“Traffic crashes are a leading cause of death for teens 15 to 18 years old,” NHTSA said. “In 2019, 628 teen drivers died in crashes, and a total of 2,042 teen drivers were involved in crashes where someone died.”
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