Teen Traffic Safety Day was held at the Simmons Center in Duncan on Wednesday, Sept. 27.

The event was put on by Oklahoma Challenge which is a small nonprofit that contracts with the Oklahoma Highway Safety Office to bring traffic safety information to youth across Oklahoma.

Family and Consumer Science teacher Tamra May brought many of her students to the event just as she has done for the past eight years to help educate students on the importance of being safe on the road.

“The thing I took away from the day was that there are many distractions that can occur while driving and a crash can happen quickly when you are not fully engaged in driving,” said May.

May hopes the students that attended  will come back and inform their peers about what they learned.

“My perception is that this is a needed message for teens to hear. They are new drivers and the awareness is helpful in forming good driving habits,” May exclaimed.

Juniors Allyson Canfield and Parker Boyles were two students in attendance.

“There were stations where we learned about a lot of different things,” Canfield stated. “We did kahoots and musical chairs with buckling. It was actually really fun.” 

Though Canfield experienced fun and games at the event, the real message of being safe was her biggest take away. 

“You really should pay attention because other people might not be paying attention,” Canfield said.

Canfield was surprised about how many people are on their phone while driving.

Boyles also found that the day offered a lot of perspective.

“We did a drunk driving simulator where we had on drunk goggles,” Boyles explained. “We had to drive around cones in a golf cart. Then, we got in a semi truck and checked their blind spots.”

While the event was aimed at informing students of the unwanted consequences that come from driving impaired or distracted, officials also offered information on other motor vehicles besides cars and trucks.  

Senior Sydney Souter was surprised by all of the information offered.

“We learned the rules between different vehicles, not just cars,” Souter said. “We learned safety on motorcycles, semis,and tractors on the road.”

 Teen Traffic Safety Awareness changed the perspective of students across the state and will continue to make an impact in future years.