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General News: Teen Drivers Get Sobering Message
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| The high schoolers' skits dramatized the dangers of unsafe driving. |
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| Middle school students wrote the high schoolers to encourage them to drive safely. |
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| Failure to use a seat belt led to John Henry Potter's injuries. |
June 08, 2008
By Carol Stein
Tuesday’s “Not One More” Program at Cornwall Central High School hit its mark by informing teens and parents of the dangers and serious consequences of driving mistakes that are typical – but deadly.
Most accidents involving teens are preventable, stressed Cornwall police chief Todd Hazard, Chief of Police, who spoke at the event. Driving while intoxicated, driving too fast and inattentive driving (cell phones, changing radio stations, etc), not accidents, are responsible for most teen car crashes, he said.
The evening’s program started off with some skits by CCHS students highlighting some situations teens often find themselves in and showing the consequences, like when the students recreated a memorial by an empty student locker. After a welcome from moderator, Kevin Quigley, and a reading of some grim statistics by Hazard, the packed audience watched a sobering video profiling four teen crashes.
Chris Devitt, a graudate from Valley Central, then told his story of his night of fun that resulted in the death of his buddy, followed by months in a coma and rehabilitation, jail time and a lifetime of guilt and financial debts.
Chris discussed the “Superman” effect that occurs when teens believe they are Superman and think nothing bad will happen to them. He emphasized that it could happen easily and used the acronym DOING to get teens and parents focused on preventing future crashes.
Designate a driver;
Observe those driving drunk or stay away and report;
Intervene by taking keys or calling a cab;
No I won’t ride with you or drive drunk; and
Get involved by communicating with your family.
He ended his presentation by asking the audience to ask themselves the question: Can I prevent this from happening to me or others? The answer is YES.
After Chris, a graduate of Minisink Valley High School, John Henry Potter, gave his presentation from a wheelchair. Unlike Chris, he will never recover from his physical injuries. He noted that teens are not thinking about bad choices, like his decision not to wear a seat belt. Several times he was sad as he said “threw it all out the window for one night of fun” when he had only two months left before he was to graduate college and enter the plumber’s union. Members of the audience were silent and emotional in the five minutes it took John Henry to walk across the stage.
A Teen Driver Fair preceded the formal program with many insurance agencies, driving schools and safety organizations handing out literature. The program was brought to Cornwall by a committee led by Christine McDonald and consisting of Dr. Frank Sheboy, Kevin Quigley, Todd Hazard, Cecilia Iovine, Gerri Smith, and Jayme Weis. The committee enlisted the support of several sponsors to offset costs. The “Not One More” program was originally created by the Times-Herald Record to serve our community.
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