By SARI ZEIDLER
Under the supervision of the Allstate Drive Crew, a national driving safety organization, students navigated special driving courses in Mepham's back parking lot as driving instructors purposely distracted teens.
Kristen Ognibene, 17, set off on the course, music blaring, as a member of the drive crew yelled at her to read text messages on her cell phone.
"The goal of this program is to educate kids to be better drivers," said driving instructor Robert Lindsay, explaining that simulating common causes of distraction among teens, such as eating, listening to loud music and text messaging, teaches them how to handle situations when there is a need to react quickly.
According to an Allstate Foundation study on teen driving, 6,000 teenagers are killed in the U.S. every year in car crashes, and more than 300,000 are injured. The study also found that teens recognize risks when driving, but do not always take them into account, saying "teens understand that distractions - inside and outside the car - are the biggest threat to safety, yet teens are not ready to give up cell phones, music and other distractions."
Ognibene described herself as a safe driver, though she admitted to text messing at red lights and said, "Loud music doesn't ever distract me."
Krista Conte, spokeswoman for the Allstate Foundation, said that Allstate has conducted safety programs in 25 high schools nationally. The event at Mepham was the first to address winter road conditions in addition to other distractions. A substance made from guar gum and water was sprayed on the ground to create slippery road conditions similar to ice. For most high school seniors, the months ahead will be their first time driving on ice- and snow-covered roads. The three courses were called Slalom, Emergency Breaking and Collision Avoidance.
"Our hope is that the kids who were driving will now act as teen driver ambassadors," said Community Parent Center Director Wendy Tepfer. "I think they walked away with life lessons."
On Friday, the Allstate Foundation awarded an $80,000 grant to the center to help fund additional safe driving programs at high schools across Nassau County.
Comments about this story? Szeidler@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 236.
