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Safe driving program a sobering experience for teens in Parkersburg

Photo by Wayne Towner Sgt. B.L. Keefer, left, with the Wood-Wirt detachment of the West Virginia State Police, conducts a field sobriety test with Emily Jones, 17, as she wears “drunk goggles” to simulate intoxication.

PARKERSBURG — With prom season and graduation approaching, area teens had the chance to experience the dangers of drinking and distracted driving in a safe environment.

Long-time local State Farm Insurance agent dan McPherson organized the annual Teen Safe Driving Program on Saturday in the K-Mart Plaza on Blizzard Drive in south Parkersburg.

McPherson said over 100 teens and their families were expected to visit the program, which included demonstrations, displays, exhibits of emergency and other vehicles and speakers. The goal is to show the dangers of drinking and driving or texting and driving and to promote safe driving habits, he said.

Emily Jones, 17, was among the teens participating in the safe driving program.

“It’s pretty informative,” she said.

Photo by Wayne Towner The annual Teen Safe Driving Program was held Saturday at the southside Kmart Plaza. One of the stations involved driving a golf cart while wearing “drunk goggle” and then while texting to simulate distracted driving.

“It was eye-opening,” she said after trying a field sobriety test with a West Virginia State Trooper with normal vision and again while using “drunk goggles” which simulate intoxication.

One of the most compelling parts of Saturday’s program was a presentation by Stacey Fordyce, who has been active as a motivational speaker for 12 years after an accident involving a drunk driver left her a quadriplegic.

Speaking continually to small group after small group of parents and teens, Fordyce said she was 19 years old when she partied with some friends and then got in a vehicle with a drunk driver. Less than a mile later, the vehicle crashed and she was thrown through the back window, receiving a spinal injury which now keeps her in a wheel chair.

Fordyce said she always felt she was a responsible person, but that a lapse in judgment involving her own inebriation and her decision to get into a car with an intoxicated driver and not wear a seat belt has had a life-changing impact on her.

Since her accident, Fordyce has been speaking at schools and churches about making the right decisions and being responsible. She talks about the hazards of drinking and driving and the necessity of being careful.

Photo by Wayne Towner Stacey Fordyce, a motivational speaker, talks to teens about the accident which left her paralyzed 12 years ago which involved an intoxicated driver.

McPherson said he has been doing a teen safety program for over 30 years, initially working with students in the drivers education programs at the area high schools. The public event in south Parkersburg grew out of that program and has been going on for several years.

“We try to do this event every year, right before prom, right before graduation. It’s a safe driving event where we’re trying to get all of the teenagers out here that we can to show them what it would be like if they were drinking and driving,” McPherson said.

Professional Radiator provided golf carts for teens to drive through a course marked off with traffic cones while using “drunk goggles” which simulate drunken driving. The teens were allowed to take off the goggles for the second half of the course, but pretended to be texting and driving to show how that impacted what they did, he said.

A tractor-trailer was present to provide information on the safety issue of following too closely in a vehicle. The state of West Virginia provided a drunken-driving simulator and local law enforcement and emergencies services agencies were on hand with vehicles and equipment. Officers conducted a sobriety checkpoint where teens wearing drunk goggles had to complete a field sobriety test.

The event also included displays from local businesses, fire trucks from several local departments and the Wood County Mobile Command Trailer.

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