Most people have been driving and suddenly received a

text message. Do you respond?

It might be your dad, friend,

or girlfriend that is trying to

contact you. Some avoid it,

some hesitate, and some

respond immediately, because

they have gotten away with it

before without any harsh consequences. The result for the

ones that do respond is sometimes nothing, a police ticket,

or an unfortunate death.

Kramer entertainment supervisors Sean Madina and Darius

Williams’ job is to make sure

students understand the negative consequences that could

happen if they text behind the

wheel. Last Tuesday on

october 5, Madina and

Williams set up a video game

system and a television monitor to present an anti-texting

and driving program.

The video game was like one

of the racing games you would

find in any arcade, except it

was formatted to real world

driving, complete with an

iPhone attached to the console.

During the game, players

drive through a virtual town

while attempting to write a text

message. Various players lasted only 41 seconds before

crashing.

The television attached to the

game showed a short movie

that told the story of a group of

friends who were out driving

one day when the driver than

decided to text. The result

proved costly as she looked too

late and realized she was going

to crash. The passengers were

sent flying throughout the

vehicle, smashing their heads

into the side windows and

twisting into uncomfortable

positions.

When the smoke cleared

only one girl was alive.

Sean Madina said he thought

the game made a positive

impact on people who came to

the exhibit.

“I think it opens people’s

eyes to this issue, but people

won’t take it to heart until they

have a close call or experience

the harsh possibilities,” he

said. “That’s why the game is

so graphic. To show students

how this could affect them.”

Students who played the

game expressed their reactions

to the exhibit, and what they

thought of texting while driving.

“I do not text and drive at the

same time, and this game

cements the reasons why I

don’t,” said Scott Harris.

Brook Garber, who watched

the game, said, “I think texting

while driving is really stupid

and I don’t know what would

make people want to take that

risk.”

Evan Jeck said, “I sometimes

text while driving, but I think

the whole video game experience made me worry about my

dad who texts while driving

long distances.”

Kelley Strosser said that

even though the game’s graphics aren’t very realistic, it does

a good job of showing how

easy it is to become distracted

on the road.

Another Bucks student, Dan

Bellofiore, voiced his idea for

preventing distracted driving.

“To avoid texting and driving, I use voice texting. It

allows me to keep my eyes on

the road,” he said.

Maddie Hagerman, 18, does

not have her license yet, but

still stopped to try the game.

“I thought the game was realistic and when I eventually do

get my license, I could definitely look back on this as a

real learning experience.”

Sean Madina and Darius

Williams said they travel all

over the country and set up

their exhibit for different

schools, colleges, military

bases, and anywhere else

where people gather on a regular basis. “It usually helps to be

single when doing this,

because it could definitely be a

strain on a relationship.”

Hopefully the next time you

are driving and your cellphone rings or vibrates; you

will wait until the car is

stopped to answer the text.