Students learn the dangers of distracted driving in presentation

Texting and driving at 55 MPH equates to driving blindfolded the length of a football field

From now on, one student at Logan High School says he’ll be throwing his phone in the back seat of his car when driving. 

That was after he experienced a driving simulator designed to show the dangers of texting and driving. 

Nick, a junior at the school took part in the exercise along with other volunteers in his class. 

It was part of AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign which held the presentation on Tuesday. 

Along with Jim Jermain of AT&T, speakers included State Senator Jennifer Shilling and Wisconsin State Trooper Cody Digre. 

Nick says the simulator opened his eyes to how quickly an accident can happen. 

“I quick looked down and he had me pull my phone out and look up the movies playing,” Nick said. “I couldn’t even get ‘M O’ out before I was swerving into the turn lane.” 

In the five minutes he used the simulator while texting, he ran a stop sign and swerved several times.

The state of Wisconsin banned texting and driving six years ago.