Just Say ‘No’ to Texting and Driving

WAITSBURG - "Just Say 'No' to Texting and Driving." That's the name of the campaign Waitsburg High School senior Logan Dozier has created. And he hopes it will have lasting impact on not only Waits- burg teens, but on the larger communities of Waitsburg, Dayton and Prescott as well.

Dozier was motivated to create the program because the dangers of distracted driving recently "hit home." While developing the pro- gram has been "a LOT of work" and doesn't count toward any type of school credit or project, Dozier, who plans to attend WSU to major in strategic communi- cations, wanted to do what he could to have an impact.

"About a month ago, I saw in the paper that there was a crash and they thought it involved texting and driv- ing. That got me. I text and drive all the time. I've almost hit someone. I've almost gone off the road, and yet I didn't think it was that bad."

Dozier worked with high school principal Stephanie Wooderchack to submit for and receive a $500 High School Distracted Driving Grant from State Farm In- surance. "It's a pretty great thing Logan is doing for his peers," said Wooderchack. The grant requirements include: holding up an antitexting sign (Dozier is put- ting a notice on the school reader board), gathering 100 signatures on an anti-texting petition, creating a survey, writing a letter to the editor and developing a presenta- tion.

Dozier initiated the program by asking students to visit the computer lab and take a survey he'd created using SurveyMonkey.com. Seventy-nine students an- swered the following survey questions, including some non-driving freshman and sophomores, which somewhat skewed the responses to question 1.

Have you ever texted while driving? 43% yes 57% no

Have you ever witnessed texting and driving? 95% yes 5% no

How dangerous do you think texting and driving is? 53% responded "very dangerous"

Would you stop someone if they were texting and driv- ing? 50% maybe 34% yes

Do you think texting and driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving? 76% no

Do your parents text and drive? 66% no

"Some of these shocked me," said Dozier. "I went online and it said you were three times more likely to crash while texting and driv- ing than drinking and driv- ing, and yet most students don't think it's as dangerous.

"How many times do people really drink and drive? It's like a Friday and Saturday thing. People text and drive every single day, almost 24/7, seven days a week, all year round. It's not really addressed locally as much as drinking and driv- ing and I want to address it just as much."

Dozier shared that April is national Distracted Driv- ing Awareness Month and AT&T is running an exten- sive campaign that includes an "It Can Wait" texting and driving simulator that can be found at www.itcanwait- simulator.org. The simulator sends an email to a smart phone for the recipient to answer while controlling a simulated driving experi- ence on a computer screen.

"I think we as young people think we need to get back to people as soon as possible or they'll get mad at us. I think we have that urge when we're in the car, as soon as we see that screen light up, we have to text back because we don't want them to think we're ignoring them." AT&T has addressed this issue as well with its Drive Mode app that sends a customizable autoreply message to incoming texts, letting friends know the recipient is driving.

The next step in the campaign is an assembly - similar to the "Every 15 Minutes" anti-drinking and driving presentations - to be held May 7th. Dozier has arranged for Prescott and Dayton high school juniors and seniors to be bussed over to attend the presentation, along with all Waitsburg high school students. Part of the grant money will go toward purchasing lunch for the Dayton and Prescott students.

Dozier acknowledges his father, Perry Dozier's, connections as Walla Walla County commissioner, were an advantage in setting up meetings and connecting him with the appropriate public officials. Still, the project has been a significant undertaking for a busy high school senior. "It is pretty overwhelming at times," said Dozier. "But it's just something I feel really passionate about." In prepara- tion for the assembly Dozier met with Nancy Walters, who coordinates the Every 15 Minutes presentations, and who helped set him up with the necessary resources.

The "Just Say 'No' to Texting and Driving" pre- sentation will include talks by State Trooper Joe Klundt, County Sheriff's Deputy Jared Martin, Wa-Hi School Resource Officer Scott Brashear and Walla Walla City Police Spokesperson Tim Bennett. The Waitsburg High drama class will present a skit, and videos will also be shown. Community members are encouraged to attend the May 7 presentation at 10 a.m. in the high school auditorium.