Silent killer

Tina Knoles, mother of 15-year-old Nicole Knoles who was seriously injured in a car accident in November 2010, has been working with Springfield District 186 to raise awareness among students, parents and teachers on the deadly risks of texting while driving.

“It’s a silent killer,” Knoles says. “They don’t know how dangerous a situation it is and what they’re putting themselves into.”

Driving simulator

Knoles worked with the school board to introduce a driving simulator during Freshman Forward, an orientation for new high school students that started this year at all three high schools in District 186. The simulator, provided by American Automobile Association (AAA), includes computer monitors that display various driving scenarios to users.

Students who volunteered were asked to sit in a chair and place their feet on the lifelike floor pedals, gripping the steering wheel in front of them to begin navigating through the course.

A member of SIU School of Medicine staff sat next to each student using the simulator. The staff member incorporated distracting elements, such as having other students sit next to and talk to the student using the simulator. When a student was stopped by a train or a red light, the staff member would ask the student to take out their cell phone and text someone to say they were running late. Each simulation ended shortly afterward because the student driver would hit another car, veer off the road or drive at speeds far exceeding the limit.

The simulator method gives students, even those too young to legally drive, instruction on the negative impacts of texting and other forms of distracted driving, “without the stress of being behind the wheel,” Knoles says. The simulator will be used at future Freshman Forward orientations, she says.

It’s also important to educate younger students on texting while driving, she says. She is interested in approaching the middle schools to spread awareness to younger students there.

At the time of the Nov. 26, 2010, car crash that killed the driver and another passenger, her 15-year-old daughter, Nicole Knoles, was the survivor. The accident report lists as contributing factors “distraction from inside vehicle (combination of eating food while driving, phone/wireless device, and passengers. Improper lane usage. Speeding in excess of postd speed limit.” Nicole told officers she remembered the driver sending a text as the drive began, and she recalled him trying to plug in his cell phone during the drive. A witness following the car said it made a “jerking” type action and crossed the center line before it hit another car head-on.

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