RI Attorney General Peter Kilmartin speaks to Barrington students.
It’s texting and driving, and students at Barrington High School learned last week that it is responsible for more teenage deaths than drunk driving.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin, Rhode Island State Police Major James Manni and Barrington Police Chief John LaCross spoke at a presentation titled “It Can Wait” at Barrington High School on Thursday morning, Jan. 8.
Barrington Police Chief John LaCross shows students a picture of a crash caused by distracted driving.
Major Manni told the 500 Barrington students about having to make death notifications with teenagers’ parents. He spoke about the peoples’ reactions and how devastating it is.
Chief LaCross held up two large photographs taken at the scene of an accident a few years ago. He said two Barrington girls were traveling in Toyota Prius down Ferry Lane when the driver decided to check her phone. In just seconds, the car veered off the road and slammed into the tree. Both girls, said the chief, suffered injuries in the crash.
Chief LaCross told the students inside Barrington High School auditorium that texting and driving affected everyone, and that he stuck a note card with the words “It Can Wait” to the dashboard of his cruiser to remind himself not to text and drive.
Mr. Kilmartin said the program, which partners the Rhode Island Department of Transportation, the Rhode Island State Police and AT&T along with local law enforcement agencies, is designed to spread the word about the dangers of distracted driving and will reach thousands of high school students in Rhode Island this year.
RI State Police Major James Manni discusses the dangers of texting and driving.
Following the presentation, Barrington High School students were asked to sign a pledge to not text and drive.
Since the program launched in 2012, Mr. Kilmartin and partners have made 48 school visits with more than 17,000 students taking the pledge.