{"id":160852,"date":"2026-04-08T22:05:07","date_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:05:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/160852\/"},"modified":"2026-04-08T22:05:07","modified_gmt":"2026-04-08T22:05:07","slug":"pennsylvania-students-get-up-close-look-at-consequences-of-distracted-driving-with-mock-crash-scene","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/160852\/","title":{"rendered":"Pennsylvania students get up-close look at consequences of distracted driving with mock crash scene"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Distracted driving causes an estimated 60% of crashes involving <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nhtsa.gov\/teen-driving\/parents-talk-your-teen-driver-about-safe-driving\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">teenage drivers<\/a>. High school students in Delaware County on Tuesday got a close-up view of the possible consequences.<\/p>\n<p>A mock crash demonstration at Sun Valley High School in Aston aimed to raise student awareness ahead of prom season, when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/teen-drivers\/prevention\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener nofollow\">teen driving risks<\/a> are a big concern.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Juniors and seniors played out the scene as crash victims, complete with makeup for blood and other injuries.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There&#8217;s a big element of reality to something like this,&#8221; student Jonathan Michael said.<\/p>\n<p>This crash aftermath simulation, which includes a full emergency response, is designed to demonstrate the consequences of impaired and distracted driving. The mock injuries include a fatality, with a hearse arriving on the scene.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We want to give our students an opportunity to think in advance before they make poor decisions,&#8221; Dean of Students John Moletteri said.<\/p>\n<p>Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 18-year-olds in the U.S., according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>More than 2,500 people were killed in crashes involving teen drivers in 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In this reenactment, a driver is impaired and arrested for driving under the influence.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Proms are happening starting next week. Kids are going to be going off into the summer where they have more time on their hands,&#8221; Moletteri said. &#8220;So we want to have this in their memory before they make those bad decisions.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Officials say distractions come in many forms, including texting, talking, eating and anything else that takes your eyes and attention off the road.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I hope we put the fear of God into people to not drink and drive or do anything stupid behind the wheel,&#8221; student actor John Tittermary said.<\/p>\n<p>Just a few seconds of distraction can bring a lifetime of hardships and heartbreak.<\/p>\n<p>Experts say there are a few ways to help prevent distracted driving, including enabling the &#8220;do not disturb while driving&#8221; feature on smartphones and limiting the number of passengers.<\/p>\n<p>\n          More from CBS News\n        <\/p>\n<p class=\"content__tags__label\">In:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Distracted driving causes an estimated 60% of crashes involving teenage drivers. High school students in Delaware County on&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":160853,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[6704,4766,69,71,70],"class_list":{"0":"post-160852","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-philadelphia","8":"tag-high-school","9":"tag-mentioned-on-air","10":"tag-philadelphia","11":"tag-philadelphia-headlines","12":"tag-philadelphia-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=160852"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/160852\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/160853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=160852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=160852"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=160852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}