Simulation teaches teens the perils of distracted driving

EAGLE COUNTY - It's the middle of a school day at the Vail Christian High School near Eagle and if you listen carefully you can hear the kind of music associated with video games.

In fact on this day, students like 13-year-old Alli O'Brian are getting the rare chance to play Nintendo at school.

"I'm here playing Mario Kart," O'Brian said.

If it sounds too good to be true, it's because students might get to play video games, but it's not all fun and games. Students like Alli are learning firsthand how difficult it is to try and drive while dealing with distractions like talking on the cell phone or texting.

"I ran into a lot of things and it was very stressful," said O'Brian.

With help from the Eagle County Sheriff's Department, the Colorado State Patrol, Eagle County Fire Fighters and the Vail Valley Medical Center the high school created the "distracted and drowsy driving project."

Kim Greene with the Vail Valley Medical Center says the program focuses on text messaging and other dangerous driving distractions some might experience behind the wheel.

"They entered a nationwide contest with a national organization for youth safety and it's a teen safety traffic project," Greene said.

Twenty schools from around the country are putting similar projects together in a contest created in honor of National Youth Traffic Safety Month, which will reward the best school safety program with $10,000. Vail Christian High was the only school in Colorado to take part in the event.

It also included a simulated drunk driving course with students attempting to drive a go-cart that replicated the effects of drunk driving. All of it aimed at showing young drivers the importance of being alert behind the wheel.

"The whole focus of Vail Christian High School's traffic safety project is about distracted driving," Greene said.

With the way Alli is driving, rarely on the road and often crashing into computerized cows, the program seems to be driving home the point.

"I don't think I'll text," O'Brian said.