Traditional Distracted Driving Presentation Moved to Virtual Format

Traditional Distracted Driving Presentation Moved to Virtual Format

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A screen shot from the May 28 Zoom presentation. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

Despite the COVID-19 pandemic overshadowing other public health issues, Stony Brook Medicine Trauma Center workers have not forgotten the issues that occur on the road due to distracted driving.

A visual used in the distracted driving program. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

According to Stony Brook Medicine, reckless and distracted driving is the number one killer of American teenagers. To reduce car crashes and injuries the trauma center has trained more than 2,500 students in safe driving in the Commack, Central Islip and Middle Country school districts since 2016. This year, with no in-school teaching, the pandemic created a challenge in keeping the message going..

To reach teenagers this year, the trauma center decided to make the annual presentation virtual. On May 28 in three sessions, Commack High School students took part in the nationally recognized teen safe driving program Impact Teen Drivers. The trauma center is the first in New York to offer the program, according to Injury Prevention & Outreach coordinator for Stony Brook Medicine Trauma Center, Kristi Ladowski, who is a liaison for Impact Teen Drivers.

Heather Leggio, Commack High School psychologist and Students Against Drunk Driving club adviser, said remote learning had been taking place for two months, which helped with the new virtual presentation, since a process was already in place. The psychologist said she felt the virtual version enabled more to participate and there was a constant stream of discussion.

Ladowski said when she started looking into different programs a few years ago she kept going back to the California-based Impact Teen Drivers program. She said among its strengths are the supportive staff members, research- and evidence-based material and that the program doesn’t incorporate the usual scare tactics that other programs have used.

She said using statistics and real stories the program connects with teenagers on a visceral level. She added that, from the beginning, Commack was on board with the program, and the trauma center partnered with the high school’s SADD group.

“Commack School District with the SADD students and their health classes just really connected with the program and has run it year after year with such success so it’s been such a great partnership,” Ladowski said.

In the past, Ladowski presented the program in schools in a small classroom setting to connect better with students, and in Commack, SADD members were trained and then the club members took the lead and ran the program in their 10th-grade classes.

“We’re happy to go to the school, and I will run the program as the instructor, but to really embed it in a school is what we’re looking for, and to see the passion that these young students have to take on the program and make it their own and really connect with their peers to make a difference — that’s what’s really great about working with the Commack School District,” she said.

Sara Decker, Commack High School social worker, said everyone is motivated and passionate about the program, and health teachers have also been advocates for halting distracted driving..

“As the program went on for different years, we were able to recruit more SADD members through this presentation in our classes and it really gave our club a rejuvenation,” she said. “Commack students really got behind this important topic from the beginning.”

Decker said Ladowski gave this year’s virtual presentation over Zoom and afterward the students were able to chat and ask questions. SADD students and teachers helped to moderate the chat.

Ladowski said during the course she goes over risky behaviors such as the application of lipstick or eating and drinking that can be lethal while driving a car.

A visual used in the distracted driving program. Photo from Stony Brook Medicine

“It constantly brings it back to our choices and then it also brings in relating everyday activities, things like lipstick application, doing our hair, eating and drinking, using our cellphones,” Ladowski said. “These everyday things that we do by themselves that are not dangerous, but as soon as we make the choice to do it in a car, it can become dangerous and deadly. We don’t get a second chance, so it’s so important to make good decisions every time we’re in the car.”

Ladowski added that passengers should do their part not to distract drivers and also speak up when they don’t feel safe.

Leggio said the students quickly understand that anything that they do that’s not 100 percent focused on driving is considered a distraction. She said they suggest for students to have a plan every time they go in a car as far as how many passengers they feel comfortable having in the car and a rule for everyone to wear seatbelts.

The program, Leggio said, empowers the students and agrees that it’s helpful that it doesn’t rely on scare tactics. She added that when the SADD students give the presentation, the younger ones look up to them.

“The kids don’t get turned off by it immediately,” she said. “They recognize it as a logical, rational explanation. It just makes sense.”

Decker and Leggio said in the past they noticed many students realized mistakes their parents have made while driving.

“A lot of them recognize what their parents are doing is not okay, and it kind of empowers them to go home and kind of remind mom and dad they shouldn’t be texting and driving or taking a call,” Leggio said.

Ladwoski said the family discussion is important because sometimes more experienced drivers don’t perceive the risks as such.

“It’s such a rational process to have that aha moment,” she said, adding that parents may rethink certain behaviors like taking calls while driving to set a better example.

While the other districts weren’t able to use the virtual version of the program this year, Ladowski is hoping to offer it to libraries so more teenagers can take advantage of it during the summer vacation.