Teens learn dangers of texting while driving
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A smashed bumper and deployed air bags from a road wreck are all-too-common sights in Southern Nevada. Video by ktnv.com
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Las Vegas, NV (KTNV) -- A smashed bumper and deployed air bags from a road wreck are all-too-common sights in Southern Nevada.
It was a very unusual sight in the Sunrise Hospital parking lot on Thursday, but some somber faced were taking the scene in.
It's one thing to tell teenagers about the dangers of distracted driving. It's another thing to show them up close.
"It's good to see the car and actually experience what you'd be going through in the hospital," said 17-year-old Reema Naik.
The teens also got to experience what happens at the crash scene.
Registered nurse Jeanne Cosgrove says showing teens the consequences of distracted driving is the best way to drive the point home. She heads 'Sunrise Trauma Talks to Teens.' The program includes the use of "fatal vision" goggles that allow teens to see experience what it is like to drive while impaired, and lets them talk to patients who were hurt in crashes. "The texting and driving is a whole new area that we're just, really now getting into. And, really, all of us as adults, we were all guilty as well as the kids prior to getting educated," says Cosgrove. Nevada Highway Patrol Trooper Loy Hixson said teens need to know texting and driving is the same as drinking and driving. "We know, the message, when we get it out there, it's going to get to them. We want to make sure that it sticks," says Hixson. It's sticking with Naik. She said, "I can't see one of my friends being in such pain and... I want to make sure that they're OK." "Sunrise Trauma Talks to Teens" is offered several times each year. It's free and open to the public.
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