New Tech students calculate dangers of texting and driving
Published 8:42 am Wednesday, October 15, 2014
A group of Niles New Tech learners created this poster as part of a project highlighting the dangers of distracted driving. Pictured, from left to right, are Rachel Mackey, Cameron Merrill, Casey Mangus, Joe Kargula (facilitator), Hannah Davis, Melody Grayam, Deputy Kelly Laesch, Deputy Thad Chartrand, J.R. Buison (facilitator). (Leader photo/CRAIG HAUPERT)
Niles New Tech sophomore Hannah Davis has a message for anyone who thinks about using their phone to send a text message while driving: The text can wait. Your life is at stake.
Davis and dozens of other New Tech learners partnered this month with the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department to create public service announcements with the goal of spreading awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
Davis’ group, which included Rachel Mackey, Cameron Merrill, Casey Mangus and Melody Grayam, focused on the dangers of texting and driving, as did many other groups in the Niles school’s physics/algebra class.
Davis said the project was eye opening.
“I didn’t realize how much space you can cover in the short time that you look down at your phone,” she said. “I think this project will really raise awareness if not just in our classroom.”
In addition to creating and presenting PSA videos and posters, learners also used mathematical equations to figure out just how dangerous driving distracted can be.
For instance, several groups found that a person who looks away from the road for five seconds — the average time it takes to read a text message — while driving 55 miles per hour travels roughly the length of a football field.
One group used the physics equation Force = Mass x Acceleration to determine how much force occurred in a car-versus-semi crash video found on YouTube. Using the calculation, they found that the crash result in more than 270,000 Newtons of force. To put that in perspective, it takes 4,000 Newtons to break a human bone.
Learners presented their projects Monday to deputies Thad Chartrand and Kelly Laesch of the Berrien County Sheriff’s Department. The deputies graded each presentation and provided immediate feedback.
Chartrand and Laesch said it is possible that the sheriff’s department would use the best PSAs to spread awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
“Many of the groups put a lot of effort and thought into the project,” Laesch said. “We really tried to get them thinking about how to make a creative PSA that could catch people’s attention.”
