Norwich Tech Teens Learn Choices Do Matter

Career Fair Helps Norwich Tech Students Make Choices

NORWICH – Olivia Lopez was all over the road Thursday morning, dodging on-coming traffic for about 15 seconds before crashing into a street light.

Then the 15-year-old Norwich Tech sophomore stepped away from the distracted driving simulator. Lesson learned.

“That was really hard,” Lopez said. “I was all over the place. I will never drink and drive. I’m not going to text and drive. It doesn’t take much. You have to make smart choices.”

More than 300 sophomores and juniors at Norwich Tech participated in the Choices Matter program through the Connecticut Department of Transportation on Thursday. Students heard from motivational speaker and author Chris Sandy before taking their turn with the simulator.

Students also wore impaired goggles and tried to walk in a straight line – a task Cyrus Annelli, a sophomore, couldn’t complete.

“I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t see,” Annelli said. “The message: Don’t get drunk.”

Officials educated students on the choices they should make when getting behind the wheel of a car, including not drinking and driving or texting and driving and staying focused.

“It really bothers me when I get in a car and the person driving is texting,” Lopez said. “I either tell them to stop, or I grab the phone. It’s not only their life, it’s my life.”

Sandy has traveled to more than 40 states sharing his story with educators, parents and students. When he was 22, he attended a party where he had four drinks and drove on a country road outside of Atlanta, Georgia. Traveling at a speed of 77 mph in a 35 mph zone, his car crashed into an oncoming car, killing an elderly couple. He pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide by DUI and served eight-and-a-half years in a Georgia state prison.

“His message was real and taught us that our choices do matter,” sophomore Madison Gifford, 15, said. “It’s sad. We have to think because our choices can hurt people.”

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in the U.S., according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention. In 2008, Connecticut adopted more stringent teen driving laws to raise awareness and reduce crashes, injuries and deaths – it’s seen an 82 percent reduction in fatalities for 16- and 17-year-old drivers since the tougher laws began.

This is the fifth year the state’s DOT has sponsored a distracted driving program for high schools. The Choices Matter program was developed late last year.

“Whether it’s drinking and driving, texting and driving, students need to constantly hear the message,” John Kelly, carpentry department head at Norwich Tech, said. “Students’ phones are such a part of their lives. Put the phone down while driving, even when you’re in the passenger seat, put the phone down.”

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