New program targeted at stopping distracted driving

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTHI) - The statistics are daunting:

• 4,000 people are killed, and 500,000 people are injured per year, as a result of Distracted Driving;
• 11 percent of all drivers are under the age of 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported as distracted at the time of the crash;
• Sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eyes from the road fro an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent—at 55 miles-per-hour—of driving the length of an entire football field, blind.

One Terre Haute attorney has started a program geared towards young adults at the area high schools, to have students be more cautious when driving.

Attorney Steven Williams began a trial lawyer campaign, which has been specifically tailored for Indiana by the Indiana Trial Lawyer’s Association College of Fellows, because of the death of one of its member’s granddaughter as a result of texting while driving.

Presentations are scheduled for:

• West Vigo High School at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday morning, October 16,
• North Vigo High School at 12:50 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, October 16 and
• South Vigo High School at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday.

Distracted driving is driving while engaged in any activity that could divert a person’s attention away from the primary task of driving.