Friday, Nov. 07, 2008

NASCAR Driver Talks Safety at CHHS

By Scott Price

Staff Writer

NASCAR driver Elliott Sadler came to campus last week to give students at Colleyville Heritage High School a driving lesson: Do not drive and use text messaging at the same time. Sadler said statistics show that drivers sending text messages are even more likely to have accidents than those who drink and drive.

SPEED TV personality John Roberts asked Sadler if he had ever received a text message that was so important that he had to read it while driving.

"No, no, that’s just stupid," he said.

Sadler and Roberts spoke to CHHS students as part of the Allstate Teen Safe Driving Pit Stop, which works in partnership with Gillett Evernham Motorsports. The program brings NASCAR drivers, like Sadler and Kasey Kahne, to visit high schools across the country before local NASCAR races.

Sadler drove his No. 19 Dodge in the Dickies 500 on Sunday at Texas Motor Speedway. The driver, who has won at TMS before, finished 35th this weekend.

A video of NASCAR crashes was shown to the students at the event on Oct. 30. Sadler said many safety protections are in the cars that NASCAR uses that help save drivers’ lives in crashes.

But Sadler said all cars are traveling in the same direction on a racetrack. On the street, Sadler said, cars drive in the opposite direction, which can create deadlier situations.

Roberts said car crashes are the number one cause of fatalities among teenagers in the United States. More than 5,000 teens die every year and 300,000 more are injured as a result of careless driving.

In a study released in June ranking the 50 largest metro areas by teen driving score, the Dallas area ranked 17th worst with a teen fatality crash rate of almost 27 deaths per 100,000 teens. In 67 percent of teen driving fatalities in the Dallas area, speeding or lack of seat belt use was cited as a contributing factor. The study was commissioned by Allstate.

They also report 3,928 teens died in car crashes in Texas between 2000 and 2006.

Sadler said the night before his senior prom in Virginia his friend was killed in a car accident.

"So every year when that time rolls around we aren’t thinking about the memories of the prom," he said. "Instead, we are thinking of him and the car accident he had."

Roberts said when he was in high school the driver education teacher had students gather around him, and then he opened a box with a realistic-looking rattlesnake. Roberts said all the students jumped back. Then the teacher opened a second box with a set of car keys, and all the students came closer.

Roberts said the teacher told them, "Why are you afraid of the rattlesnake? I do not know anyone who has died from being bitten by a rattlesnake. But I know many teenagers who have died in car accidents."

A trivia game was played with the students that included questions about safe driving and about Sadler, and the students were excited to try to win autographed hats.

"You have to do something to get the kids’ attention and interest in it," Sadler said after the program.

Sadler encouraged the teenagers to communicate with their parents about safe driving.

Parents and their teens are encouraged to visit www.allstate.com/teen to complete an online interactive parent-teen driving contract, which helps start the important safe driving conversation among parents and teens to ensure safer driving habits.