SADD brings 'It Can Wait' campaign to Cranston West

Posted 11/20/14

On Nov. 3 Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, Rhode Island State Police, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and AT&T were welcomed by the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) club …

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SADD brings 'It Can Wait' campaign to Cranston West

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On Nov. 3 Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, Rhode Island State Police, the Rhode Island Department of Transportation and AT&T were welcomed by the Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) club at Cranston High School West as the “It Can Wait” campaign against distracted driving – specifically texting while driving – was presented to students. The school was presented with a certificate of recognition by the attorney general’s office for its participation in the campaign.

Although the presentation was a first for West, it was the 47th of its kind at schools across the state.

“We’ve had a great response to the school visits,” said Emily Martineau, assistant public information officer for the attorney general’s office.

According to the Kilmartin’s office, recent studies show that distracted driving has surpassed drunk driving as the leading cause of death for teenagers behind the wheel.

“Our biggest goal is to make sure our students are safe, and we do a variety of different things on campus to protect them,” Principal Tom Barbieri said. “Texting and driving is not safe, and we want to pass that message along, in conjunction with Attorney General Peter Kilmartin, [Cranston Police Chief] Col. Michael Winquist, [State Police] Lt. Eric Lariviere and Mr. Joseph Shannon from AT&T. We also have Derek DiMaio here, our student resource officer, and Mr. Ascoli and his crew from SADD.”

Barbieri admitted to struggling with his own constant need to answer or respond to texts at all times, even when behind the wheel.

“I’ve come to realize that today these devices have become like another body part. We don’t want to leave anywhere without them,” he said. “That can be good, but that can be bad. There are times and places when we should not be using them, and driving is one of those places. I’m learning not to text and drive. I’m learning to put my device away, to shut it off, because it can wait.”

As part of the day’s presentation, Barbieri took part in a simulation that had him receiving and sending texts while driving behind a simulator wheel. A large drop-down screen showed the disastrous results as it became clear that Barbieri, like any driver, could not fully concentrate on the road ahead while focusing on the device in his hand at the same time.

“Lives are lost in these kinds of real situations,” Barbieri said. “I don’t want that in your life and I don’t want that on your mind for the rest of your life if something happens to someone in your car.”

Kylee Harris, a junior at West, member of SADD and emcee for the day, focused on the reality of distracted driving.

“That was just a simulation, but imagine if that game was real life?” she said.

Harris introduced Shannon, AT&T’s regional director of external affairs, who spoke to the students about the “It Can Wait” campaign.

“Rhode Island is leading the nation in sharing this incredibly important message,” he said. “How many of you have sent a text this morning? How many of you have sent five texts this morning? Texting is good, but texting while driving is a problem. You use your mind, your eyes and your hands to text, all the same things you need for attention when driving your car. You cannot do both at once.”

Shannon presented the next part of the event, a showing of the AT&T film “The Last Text,” which showed the impact of texting and driving from multiple points of view, including a victim of a crash who lived, family members of victims who died, police officers who make the death notification visits to families, drivers who had killed or injured a victim and those who sent the fateful “last text” to someone, resulting in their death.

The auditorium at West, filled almost to capacity, was silent as the film played on, story after story of real people and real lives shown on screen, each one more devastating than the last, and all with the common theme that distracted driving kills and destroys lives.

Examples of the types of last texts sent were shown – texts many of the teens have most likely seen or sent themselves, consisting of words like “yeah” and “LOL” and “Where u @.”

“I’ve now seen that film more than 40 times,” Kilmartin said. “The emotion, the horror, the tragedy and the sadness never diminish for me, no matter how many times I watch. You can pick your adjective to describe it, but these are real people, real stories, and the effect never diminishes.”

Kilmartin said he shies away from discussing the legal ramifications of distracted driving, which include fines, suspension and prosecution. He believes that ultimately no punishment dealt by the justice system could compare to the punishment the teens in the movie face.

“That level of self-hatred, that punishment you’d forever give yourself, that’s more than the legal ramifications our state could give you,” he said.

The bigger message that Kilmartin and his fellow “It Can Wait” campaigners wish to get across to their audiences is that such situations and outcomes are preventable.

“There are things we can do,” he said. “There are things we make choices about, things that we need to make the right choices about. We need you to spread the word. Put the phone where you can’t reach it when you’re driving. Put it on airplane mode, silence it. Ask your drivers to stop texting when you’re in the car and they are driving. Spread the word to the adults in your life, because they are texting just as much. You can have an impact. You can automatically develop habits so that you don’t text and drive.”

Kilmartin implored the audience to join in the campaign, to help spread the word about what they’d seen.

“Everyone in that video had something in common with every one of you. Every one of them thought it couldn’t happen to them,” he said. “But it did.”

Lariviere spoke next to the students, telling the students that he also was not there to list statistics about distracted driving.

“If that movie can’t do it, nothing can get the message across,” he said. “I’m passionate about saving lives, and these deaths were not accidents. They were 100 percent preventable, which is the worst part about all of this. The absolute worst part of my job is making death notifications, whether it’s 2 a.m. or 2 p.m., whether it’s a mother, father, brother or sister, boyfriend or girlfriend. There is no right way to do it, and it’s an unbelievable feeling.”

Lariviere implored the students in the audience to be leaders.

“If you want to do something right, be a crusader, support your SADD team. Spread the message because we need your help. I don’t want to have to knock on any more doors,” he said. “If you know someone is driving, don’t text them. I’ll never understand why people make the decision to text and drive. It will catch up with you. You will kill somebody.”

Winquist said it was his first time seeing the film.

“It sent a chill up my spine, and it brought me back to an accident scene on Route 95 in Hopkinton, my first time responding to a fatal accident,” he said. “That never leaves you.”

Winquist gave the students some facts about the time it takes to glance at a text while driving.

“If you look down, you can go 100 yards in that time. That’s the length of a football field. All that distance in the time it takes to look down and send a text, to read a text,” he said.

Winquist asked the students to take part in the next level of the campaign, a pledge not to text and drive. Students were asked to sign the pledge during the event, and banners were being placed in the cafeterias for all four lunch periods so that the entire student body would have the opportunity to take part.

“Take the pledge today. Be serious about the pledge. Talk to your parents, be our partners, because nothing is worse than having to knock on the door and tell your parents that their child is never coming home again,” he said.

For more information on the “It Can Wait” campaign visit www.itcanwait.com.

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