By DESSISLAVA YANKOVA
Students in Williamson County may need to complete more requirements to drive on campus, according to suggestions made by a task force convened after five teens died within three months in car crashes.
Williamson County Schools officials hope ideas and plans for the likely additional driving measures would come from the Student Safe-Driving Task Force that met for the first time at the county Board of Education Thursday, Jan. 26. The group’s 16 members include mostly schools and county officials.
“We’re hoping we can partner with parents and create a program that our students can be a part of so they are safe and there are boundaries when they get that driver’s license,” said Sarah Lamb, principal of Summit High School in Thompson’s Station and a parent.
One goal, Lamb said, is to bring awareness to parents and students of the latest changes in the driver’s license law and that statistics show the first six months after receiving a license “have become very dangerous.”
“We want them to be informed and we want to help them create those boundaries and enforce them, especially while they’re on our campuses and at our events,” Lamb said. “We’re an integral part of their life and we want to remind them of things they can do to stay safe.”
Now to drive on the schools’ campuses, students need to complete an application and pay a fee to receive a tag to park. The potential program would be a prerequisite for the parking tag.
Five guests presented safe driving initiatives before members of the Task Force requested by Superintendent Mike Looney.
“Dr. Looney asked we establish a task force so we can begin the dialogue to see what it is we can do, what steps we can take, what programs we may put in place, what information we need to share with our students and families, just anything within our power to eliminate traffic accidents for our student drivers and fatalities,” WCS Special Projects Manager Angela Huff said. “We have different groups share with us what they’re already doing in our community to see if those are things we may want to implement but just to start a dialogue.”
Distracted driving, speed contribute
Distracted driving such as phone talking and texting, as well as speed are two of the most common reasons contributing to people crashing, Sheriff Jeff Long said.
“We did a recent survey and out of 10 cars, eight were texting while they were driving,” Long said. “We’re going to start an aggressive enforcement campaign to stop people when they’re texting and driving. We don’t like writing tickets. We’d rather people conform their behavior but we got to do something to get it under control.”
Plans include, Long said, setting up surveillance points at strategic places, such as school zones, to monitor if people are using phones while driving.
“And if they are, we’re going to stop them and remind them, ‘it’s a violation and please don’t do it’,” Long said. “The County Commission was good enough to grant us personnel for a traffic unit and we’re beginning that unit and their duty is safety. There’re tragedies over and over happening and we’ve got to do something to try to stop that. It affects everybody.”
Distracted driving is a problem for all ages not just teens.
“It’s the way are today,” Long said. “Everybody wants to know the information immediately. It’s a fast-paced world and the best way to do it is on devices.”
Community rallies
The loss of former Summit student Morgan Fell, Lamb said, “was pretty difficult community-wide.” Fell played softball and volleyball at school in Spring Hill and was killed in a crash in Alabama.
“Morgan was a big part of our schools,” Lamb said. “She had a very infectious smile. She was a very sweet student, one of those student who all the students really loved. She’s definitely been missed. Our students really rallied together and the community has supported the family. The Fell family is an integral part of our community. We have supported each other, all the schools involved. We have really strong relationships with our students so when anything like that happens, it really hits home.”
Task Force members heard from guest Purnima Unni, injury prevention manager at the Pediatric Trauma Unit of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt Medical Center. Unni presented the program, “Be in the Zone, Turn Off Your Phone,” already in place at Summit and Brentwood High schools.
Other guests presented programs from AAA, CheckPoints and Nissan. After a Q&A, the group was to collaborate on future plans. Presentations and discussions were closed to the media and results have not been yet revealed.
Schools already have some measures to enforce safe driving. Such include administrators ensuring students leaving in the afternoons are buckled up and not distracted. Several groups are highlighting distracted driving programs, including STARS collaborating with the Williamson County Drug Coalition. Officials hold a mock crash at the end of the year. Students can also participate in driver’s education.
The recent fatalities include:
November 2016
Centennial High School senior Jim Cheek
December 2016
Summit High School former student Morgan Fell
Ravenwood High School teen Riath Al-Shawi
Page High School senior Savanna Biles
January 2017
Independence High School graduate Austin Wayne Wilson Oppelt
