Tulsa World: Students try to put the brakes on texting

MAKE US YOUR HOMEPAGE | Friday, November 20, 2009 | WIRELESS

Home > News > Article

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Students try to put the brakes on texting

By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer
Published: 11/8/2008 2:14 AM
Last Modified: 11/8/2008 2:19 AM

CLAREMORE — Students and staffers at Claremore High School are answering the call for what they believe is a most important crusade: eliminating text messaging while driving.

A pledge drive kicked off Friday with no-phone-use-while-driving promises and sales of bracelets that read "TWD (texting while driving) is NO LOL (laughing out loud) matter to ME."

The money — a minimum $2 donation is requested for each bracelet — will go to defraying the hospital expenses of Claremore High School teacher Mary Wilcox and her daughter, Autumn, a junior.

Both sustained serious injuries in a Sept. 12 collision that Autumn said was caused by a driver distracted by a telephone.

"It's very overwhelming," said Autumn, 17. " I didn't expect the school to understand what I'm going through. I'm very thankful that everybody actually cares about this. To know that everybody at school wants to help, that's cool."

On crutches from the Rogers County crash, Autumn accompanied fellow students as they went to classrooms raising awareness about the campaign. She is a licensed driver and wants other drivers to understand text-messaging hazards.

"My mom raised me not to talk on my phone or text while driving. I've never done that," she said. "Whenever I see my friends doing it, I make them hang up the phone or I take their phone."

About $1,500 was raised Friday, said high school counselor Phyllis Hess. Brooke Rolison, a Claremore junior, said her family contributed $42, including

$7 in pennies she had been saving for about six months.

"It has become a major accident-causing issue," Hess said of texting and driving.

Autumn and her mother were on their way home to Inola when the crash occurred on a county road about 4 p.m.

A 1996 Ford Mustang, driven by Tanner Shoop, 19, of Pryor, went left of center while rounding a curve and struck a 2004 Pontiac driven by Wilcox, 46, with her daughter as a passenger, according to an Oklahoma Highway Patrol report.

Autumn said she saw Shoop on a cell phone as his car approached theirs. He was cited for driving left of center in a marked zone, records show. OHP Trooper Andrew Floyd said earlier this week that Shoop sustained some head trauma and doesn't remember why he veered left.

The trooper added that he has no evidence Shoop was texting or on the phone.

Hospitalized 10 days, Autumn said her left femur was broken in five places and her right ankle shattered, injuries that required surgery. Her mother sustained internal injuries, as well as broken ribs, shattered kneecaps and breaks to her collarbone and right femur, Autumn said.

Released from St. John Medical Center on Thursday, Wilcox is in a wheelchair, her daughter said.

In keeping with the no-texting campaign, the school's video editing class has produced public service announcements that appear on its internal network. Until her return to school after the winter break, Autumn said she plans to speak about her ordeal at area schools.

Claremore Superintendent Michael McClaren said he applauds the staff and students for taking on this issue.

"We want to protect our kids," McClaren said. "If we can protect one accident from happening from this point on, it's well worth it."

Rhett Morgan 581-8395
rhett.morgan@tulsaworld.com

Cell phone and texting facts, stats

Sixty-one percent of 16- and 17-year-olds admit to risky driving habits. Of those, 46 percent say they text while driving, and 51 percent say they drive while talking on their cell phones.

A driver is four times more likely to crash and be hospitalized if driving while using a cell phone, including using a handsfree model.

Using a cell phone while driving is as risky as drunken driving.

Oklahoma has no laws restricting cell phone use and texting. A ban on driving while talking on a hand-held cell phone is in place in six states (California, Connecticut, New Jersey, New York, Utah and Washington).

Text messaging is banned for all drivers in seven states: Alaska, California, Connecticut, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington.

Sources: consumerreports.org, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and a survey by the American Automobile Association and Seventeen magazine.

By RHETT MORGAN World Staff Writer

Newspaper View Print this story

Comment

RSS

Bookmark

Reader Comments

Show: Most Recent Comment First

Add your comment

3 comments have been made on this story so far. Tell us what you think below!

Reporting Comments

If you see a comment that violates our terms and conditions, please help us by clicking the "Report this Comment" link next to a comment. That will alert the web staff to review the comment. Thank you. -- Web Editor Jason Collington

	Report Comment Isaac Parker, Tulsa (11/8/2008 5:53:27 AM) All cell phone use while driving, should be banned...period.
	Report Comment chase, (11/8/2008 8:11:39 AM) ISAAC PARKER,DOES THIS MEAN MY MOTORCYCLE TOO?:D YOU LAUGH,i HAVE SEEN IT.
	Report Comment Graychin, Eucha (11/8/2008 8:46:10 AM) Of course texting while driving isn't safe. But while we're at it, let's do something about the woman driver I saw in Tulsa. She had one of those police medallions partially obscuring her Cadillac's license plate, was talking on her cell phone, and was watching herself in her rear-view mirror while she was applying her makeup. I don't know who was steering - she was alone in the car. It isn't just the teenagers.

Add Your Comment
In order to post a comment on this article, you must sign in to Tulsaworld.com. If you do not have a site account, you can create an account for free.