Video: Students See First-Hand Results From Distracted Driving Car Wreck

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PRENTISS COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI) – The statistics are real. Car accidents are the leading cause of teen deaths in the U.S. and the rates continue to climb.

Now, law enforcement are educating high school students about the dangers of distracted driving.

On Thursday, more than 600 Prentiss county students saw how one look at their cell phone can turn deadly.

It started like this, a car full of teenagers made a few bad decisions on a summer night that resulted in a fatal accident.

“It was real, just looked 100%,” said student, Lucas Edmondson.

The crash is part of the “Stop the Knock” initiative, where officers talk to high school students on the dangers of distracted driving.

“Us trying to deter distracting decisions or unwise decisions that’s going to cause law enforcement and first responders to have to make that knock, notifying a parent their child is not coming home due to an automobile accident,” said Mississippi Highway Patrol Master Sergeant Ray Hall.

In Mississippi, the number of teen deaths isn’t slowing down and deputies believe this program can put the brakes on a sobering statistic.

“We have seen an increase in accidents because of texting and driving or just looking down at your phone and being distracted, so this is a very serious thing,” said Prentiss County Sheriff Randy Tolar.

Robin Thomas was 19-years-old  when she was driving on a two lane road and glanced down to read a text message from a friend. Then her car crashed.

Robin had a 10 % chance of living and is still recovering from a traumatic brain injury.

Now, she has a message for every teen driver.

“It’s easy to just not touch your phone and just wait til you get in a safe spot before you look at your phone,” said Thomas.

For the students, the program is an eye opener to a harsh reality.

“But when you see it for real like we did out there, it brings it home. It really makes you think,” said Edmondson.

“There are kids, students dying and you can’t imagine something like that happening to yourself. So, I think stuff like this will really help us out because it puts it in perspective for us,” said student Amy Roberts.

“Even me knowing it was all fake and being in it, it still upset me thinking that it could possibly happen to anybody at any time,” said student Taylor Harling.

The program was for Prentiss County juniors and seniors.

The “Stop the Knock” program is a joint effort between the Mississippi Highway Patrol, Booneville Police and Prentiss County Sheriff’s Office.