College students get lesson in texting while driving

With the help of two simulators, Southeast Missouri State University students put their texting-and-driving prowess to the test Tuesday as part of AT&T's anti-texting "It Can Wait" campaign.

The simulators, which resembled video driving games with large computer monitors, were set up in the lobbies of the University Center and Towers dorms and managed by representatives from AT&T and the Sigma Chi fraternity. Supplied with smartphones, students tried texting and driving without crashing or getting pulled over by police. But one or the other usually happened.

The event encouraged students to take a pledge not to text and drive. Slater Felzien, chapter editor and event organizer for Sigma Chi, said the goal is to get 8,000 people to sign the pledge.

"That's a lofty aspiration," Felzien acknowledged.

Midafternoon foot traffic brought some curious students to the simulators, but more were expected when students were through with classes for the day, said Craig Felzien, AT&T regional director, external affairs. Banners were put up outside each location letting people know where to text to make the pledge -- ICWSEMO to 464-329.

Students said the simulators were a learning experience and that the machine made it seem as if you were driving faster than you might in real life. But it was still a wake-up call.

Cameron Fleck, a freshman from Edwardsville, Ill., said he didn't realize 75 percent of the people on the road text and drive. "It's not like you're just worrying about yourself; you have to worry about others, too," Fleck said.

Freshman Kevin Carter of St. Louis said the exercise was fun, but it would give him pause before he texts and drives in the future.

"It made you realize how hard it is to focus on two things," said Carter.

This is AT&T's third year in the "It Can Wait" campaign, which has been joined by other wireless companies, Craig Felzien said. AT&T and the Missouri Press Association joined in 2013 to promote "It Can Wait" contest for high school students.

The Southeast Missourian joined the effort, encouraging high school students to submit an opinion column of no more than 500 words on the importance of not texting while driving. Felzien said the winner received a $500 check, a tour of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, dinner with the president of AT&T Missouri and Doug Crews, executive director of the Missouri Press Association.

Felzien said Southeast was the first Missouri university to which AT&T has brought the simulators, although it has been taken to many high schools.

He said the average teen sends and receives 3,000 texts a month.

"It's a behavior that we've got to change," Felzien said. He said it took 10 to 20 years before attitudes about drinking and driving changed, and the same will be true with texting and driving. "We're in it for the long term," he said.

Felzien said there are apps that will notify a texter the person they're texting is driving and will get back to them when they stop.

The simulators also will be in both locations from 10 a.m. to noon and 4 to 7 p.m. Wednesday, according to information from AT&T. For more information, visit itcanwait.com.

rcampbell@semissourian.com

388-3639

Distracted?

These are some points to ponder from Distraction.gov:

* The number of people killed in distraction-affected crashes decreased slightly from 3,360 in 2011 to 3,328 in 2012. An estimated 421,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver, a 9 percent increase from the estimated 387,000 in 2011.

* As of December 2012, 171.3 billion text messages were sent in the U.S. every month.

* Ten percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash. This age group has the largest proportion of drivers who were distracted.

* Drivers in their 20s make up 27 percent of distracted drivers in fatal crashes, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

* At any given daylight moment across America, about 660,000 drivers are using cellphones or manipulating electronic devices while driving -- a number that has held steady since 2010.

* Doing things such as reaching for a phone and dialing and texting associated with hand-held devices increase triple the risk of getting into a crash.

* The average time your eyes are off the road while texting is 5 seconds, which means while traveling 55 mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field.

* Headset cellphones are not substantially safer than handhelds.

* A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more each time they drive. Twenty percent of teens and 10 percent of parents admit they have multi-message text conversations while driving.