Earlier this month, a state funded group known as Turn-Off Texting visited Rutland High, bringing with them their message of text-free driving and an obstacle course meant to educate the students to that same end.

Several of the individuals roamed amongst the crowd of on looking teens, reminding them of the dangers of distracted driving, while others coordinated the driving course or manned tables where students were signing pledges not to text and drive. These pledges can now be found plastered to the wall facing our school’s back entrance.

A local news crew stopped by as well, chronicling the action. As many would attest, texting-and-driving is one of the leading causes of on-road collisions today. Despite efforts to curb text message related crashes, the problem persists, particularly among today’s teens.

However, despite the seriousness of this issue, the mood of the event was one of good humor. Everyone was kept laughing as they watched their friends attempt the course, only to strike cone after cone once the phone was in their hand. Driving the course became a competition to see who could hit the fewest obstacles along their way to the finish.

The above video shows a sampling of the morning’s events and interviews with RHS students who had a good time at the event, but also learned first-hand how dangerous texting-and-driving is.