Scaring students into driving safely

“They don’t see what we do. I’m tired of cutting dead bodies out of cars,” Brown township fire chief Dave Davis said. “I’ve been doing it for 29 years. They have no idea.”

To try to deter teens from reckless driving, the town court of Mooresville, Ind., created a specific traffic program that shocks and scares teens into safer driving methods. The program is offered to teen drivers still enrolled in high school after they have received their first traffic violation. The students are required to bring at least one parent to the about 2 1/2-hour program.

In return for attending and completing the program, their ticket is torn up. There are no points put on the license, and no fine has to be paid. But the students must not receive another ticket within 90 days.

The program began nearly 12 years ago by former judge Paul Sterrett and Davis, who both wanted to teach students the dangers of their driving methods.

“Instead of a deferral program where people buy their way out of a ticket, we put on this program so we could give students information and so that they can hear our side,” Davis said.

The program consists of several presentations by the judge, a state trooper, an insurance salesman and Davis. Trooper Tom Arvin has been participating in the program for six years and has seen firsthand the dangers of reckless teen driving.

“In about a 35- to 45-day period, I worked a lot of fatalities of young people,” Arvin said.
In Arvin’s part of the program, he talks about the different traffic and criminal laws, such as drinking and driving.

Davis does what he calls the “scared straight” part of the program.

“I’ve made people pass out. I’ve made them sick. I’ve made them cry,” Davis said. “Like I tell them in the beginning, they’re not going to like what they see, and they’re not going to like what they hear.”

During his presentation, Davis shows a movie made by a Mississippi State Trooper who details some of his experiences telling 168 different families their teenager died in a car accident.

Davis then directs a parent to child exchange. The parents sit and face their teens. The teen and the parent take turns closing their eyes. Teens are told to imagine their parent’s face and reaction if they were told their child was killed or injured in a car accident. Parents are told to image what it would be like to never see their child’s face again.

“It’s a really good one-on-one with the parent and student,” Judge Secretary Sandy Harris said.

Davis ends his presentation with his own stories and slides from accidents he has worked on.

Davis said there are few students who receive another ticket within 90 days, but there has been a good response from students about the program in general.

Arvin said he believes that informing just one student about safe driving can make a difference.

“We’re not going to save the world, but if we impact one student, we’ve done our job,” Arvin said.