Ditch the distractions: Save a Life Tour visits Staples H.S. to promote safe driving

To help students better understand the dangers of texting and driving, Staples High School invited the Save a Life Tour to stop by Friday.

Oct 7, 2022, 4:57 PM

Updated 726 days ago

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Ditch the distractions. That's the message police in Westport want to get across to teens as they hit the road.
"If you look down, within seconds, you could be across two lanes of the road and you're into a crash," Ofc. Ed Wooldridge said.
To help students better understand the dangers of texting and driving, Staples High School invited the Save a Life Tour to stop by Friday. The Save a Life Tour is a safe driving awareness program that's featured at high schools and colleges across the country. The program includes a distracted driving simulation.
"A lot of poles. I went into the grass a lot, the sidewalks a lot," student Kate Weitz said. "Cars, buildings. Basically everything that showed up."
After taking part in the simulation, students made a pledge to keep their eyes on the road.
"I would definitely change some of my habits," student Michael Taglia said. "I think it kind of puts into perspective how things can go wrong very fast."
The Save a Life Tour stops at Staples High School each year.
"It ties in to what we've been doing in the classroom this year, which is putting phones in holders to help with distractions in the classrooms," principal Stafford Thomas Jr. said. "So hopefully it's obviously more important that they're not distracted while in one ton automobiles."
This year's tour comes as the Westport Police Department has launched a new traffic safety unit to crack down on distracted driving in town.
"When you're driving, just put the phone down, don't even let it be a distraction to you," Wooldridge said.