Pittsburgh Auto Show Teaches Young Drivers To Be Safe

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- At the Pittsburgh Auto Show, state police worked with young drivers to teach them the dangers of distracted driving and drunk driving.

They have a program that goes to high schools around the area addresses these topics with mostly juniors and seniors.

"I think the more people we can get not to do it the better," said young driver Jessica Borovich.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, about 10,000 people a year die from drunk driving crashes. State police programs like this aim to make it zero.

Borovich tried the goggles that simulate being drunk and attempted to walk a straight line like the field sobreity test. It didn't go well.

"It kind of looks like you're looking into a kaleidoscope and everything is just blurry everywhere you look," she said afterwards.

Troopers also gave young adults the chance to simulate distracted driving. The CDC said each day in the U.S., nine people are killed and more than 1,000 are injured in crashes involving distracted drivers.

According to them, if you look at a text for five seconds at 55 miles per hour, you've gone the length of a football field.

"I think that cell phones should be put away and distracted drivers need to be paying attention to pedestrians and other cars that are on the road at all times," young adult Karissa Jones said.

Parents of the young adults told KDKA this program can serve as a reminder for all drivers about safer practices behind the wheel.

"Not only the young new drivers but older drivers like myself exactly what kind of predicament you can get into," parent Nicole Borovich said.

To find out more about the program, click here.