Arkansas Tech students learned a serious lesson in a fun way during a texting while driving exercise behind the Doc Bryan Student Services Building on Monday afternoon.
Students were challenged to navigate an obstacle course lined with orange cones in a golf cart while trying to send a text message to a friend.
Pete Kelly, coordinator of spirit squads and evening activities in the Arkansas Tech Office of Student Services, rode along and advised students on the dangers of texting while driving.
According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 16 percent of fatal crashes in 2008 were the result of distracted driving.
A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that a driver traveling 55 miles per hour and sending a text message will have his or her eyes off the road for 100 yards — the length of a football field — while sending the text.
Currently, 30 states ban texting while driving. Click here to access more information about laws against texting while driving.
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