Mock car crash educates students on Buckle Up Phone Down Day
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Students at a Jefferson City high school got a lesson in paying attention and being buckled up while driving Friday.
The Missouri Coalition for Roadway Safety staged a mock car crash scene at Capital City High School to reinforce that message.
Jefferson City Police, Fire, and EMS were all in attendance to participate in the mock crash.
"When we talk about driving and not using a cellphone, it can't just be about talk," Jefferson City Mayor Carrie Tergin said. "It needs to be put into action. We can say buckle up and phones down but you actually have to do it."
According to Missouri's Department of Transportation, Missouri's seat belt use rate is at 86%, with the 14% of drivers who don't wear seatbelts making up 349 deaths in 2019.
In all, 701 vehicle occupants were killed in 2020 on Missouri roads -- 67% were not wearing a seat belt. Out of that number, 54 were teens aged 15-19, with 75% of those being unbuckled.
Missouri is one of two states without a texting ban for all drivers, and one of eight without a hands-free law for inexperienced or new drivers. Twelve out of 15 states and the District of Columbia that have passed hands-free laws saw a decrease of 15.3% in fatal accidents, according to MoDOT. Six out of the 15 states saw a 20% drop.
Madison Keep is a senior at Capital City High School. She played the roll of a distracted driver who was the cause of a fatal car accident.
"I know a lot of people who are proud of themselves for their "skill" of texting and driving," Keep said. "I think it's a really scary thing to live around and be a part of."
Missouri bans texting for drivers 21 and younger. However, distracted driving is not just a young driver issue. Roughly 70% of drivers involved in accidents in Missouri were over the age of 22.
"There is no reason we should have our hands on our phones and now on the wheel driving," Tergin said. "People do it without consequences and get comfortable. As we saw here today in the recreating, all it takes is one second to end a life."
According to AT&T, nearly nine out of 10 people use their smartphones while driving. Over the last five years in Missouri, crashes have increased by 30%, with roughly 2,500 crashes reported in 2019, according to MoDOT.
