Safe driving seminar puts students in the driver’s seat

WARREN — With spring break scheduled April 3-7, Warren Mott High School career and technical education teacher Anthony Wright thought it was the ideal time to reinforce the importance of safe driving among the students.

On March 22, the school held the “Don’t Rock the Boat, Marauder Safer Driving Event,” which was coordinated by Wright, the Michigan State Police and the Traffic Improvement Association. Warren Mott is part of Warren Consolidated Schools. The Marauders are the school’s mascot.

During the workshop, a number of distracted driving stations were set up in the auxiliary gymnasium. Each site provided different scenarios drivers face when on the road and how easily it is to become distracted. With the help of Wright and several student leaders, the Warren Mott students came down by class and visited each station.

“We’re trying to offer the kids a chance to learn about safe driving and (be) mindful to make good choices,” Wright said.

At one station, students wore goggles that mimicked getting behind the wheel of a car while impaired by alcohol or drugs, when sleepy or driving at night. The students wearing the goggles tossed a basketball at students without goggles. The exercise gave the students the idea of how being under the influence, tired or driving at night affects a driver when on the road.

Another site highlighted the importance of wearing seatbelts. At the safe driving simulator station, students sat down as if they were in a car and tried to drive while texting on their cellphones. They found they couldn’t focus on driving while trying to text and therefore swerved off course or crashed into other vehicles on the road.

On the other side of the gym, Warren police Officer Darryl Bagiano, also the school’s resource officer, conducted mock traffic stops in an impaired driving exercise. A chair served as the “driver’s seat” and a makeshift wallet was placed on the “passenger’s seat.”

Bagiano had the students, one by one, sit on the chair with the goggles on. He then pretended to pull over the students, asking them for their license, located inside the wallet. When they couldn’t find it, Bagiano motioned for them to “step out of the vehicle,” where he conducted a sobriety field test.

“They get a perspective of what it’s like,” Bagiano said. “A lot of them think they can drive and obviously they can’t.”

Seniors Nicole Malinova and Scott Mudd were among the student leaders who assisted with the program.

“I think it’s very effective. It shows the dangers that could happen and makes you better prepared,” Malinova said.

Mudd liked the idea of students learning from each other.

“It’s very important for students to teach each other and learn from each other, especially in high school,” he said.

Mudd and Malinova both have their driver’s licenses and admitted they were nervous when first starting to drive but feel more comfortable now. They also take safe driving very seriously and were glad Warren Mott offered the safe driving program.

Seniors Maressa Sobh and Berkeley Steinbrecher, who also served as student leaders, felt the students overall got a lot of good information from the event.

“I think it’s going great,” Steinbrecher said. “I just feel everyone will benefit more from the instruction.”

“I think the event was very helpful, and it seems like everything is very interactive. It’s a good thing to have before spring break,” Sobh said. “Texting and driving is important not to do.”

Students also took surveys of the event, and were asked to sign a banner promising to practice safe driving during spring break.

“A lot of people have signed it so far, which is a good sign,” Mudd said. “It’s a good reminder of why this school is so special.”