The dangers of distracted and impaired driving were on full display Thursday at Trousdale County High School in Hartsville.

Students at the high school are the first in the state to learn from the Save a Life Tour, one of the country’s most advanced safe driving awareness programs.

It’s one of the few times when texting and driving is encouraged.

“What that shows them is when you don’t have complete control over your vehicle, it’s very easy to lose all control of your vehicle,” said Michael Campbell of Save a Life Tour.

The program consists of crash video, victim impact statements, and distracted driving and impaired driving simulators.

According to the Tennessee Highway Safety Office, 58 people in Tennessee died from distracted driving crashes and 170 people died from alcohol-impaired crashes in 2018. 

Senior Jake Gregory said after seeing the program, he’s ready to take action.

“This makes you think harder and deeper about how is this going to affect me the rest of my life,” said Gregory.

“I think the student body surprised me,” said Teresa Dickerson, Trousdale Co. High School Principal. “You heard sniffling.”

Dickerson said she hopes other schools in the state will get to use the program.

In years past, high schools in the state used the Think Fast program to teach students about the dangers of impaired and distracted driving.

“We know that teens are using phones and if we can educate them early on the dangers, hopefully, we can have an impact,” said Vic Donoho, Director of the Tennessee Highway Safety Office.

Donoho said this pilot is a way to figure out what programs work best for area students.

“What we’re trying to do is see which one has the most impact on these young drivers,” said Donoho.

Dickerson said she’ll get feedback from faculty, staff, and students on the program to determine if they’ll officially use the program for the next academic year.