Students at Dell Rapids and Dell Rapids St Mary took part in student assemblies on Thursday, December 17th, on distracted driving.  Students in grades 7-12 at Dell Rapids had their assembly at 1:00 p.m., while the students at Dell Rapids St Mary had their assembly at 2:30.  The assembly was a powerful message on distracted driving organized by the Dell Rapids Connections group.  The presenters of the assembly lost their son in a distracted-driving accident, and they speak at school in an effort to stop all students and adults from texting and driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), in 2013, 3,154 people were killed, and an estimated 424,000 people were injured in motor vehicle crashes involving a distracted driver.  Also according to the NHTSA, sending or receiving a text message takes a driver’s eyes from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field blind at 55 mph.

Students and parents were able to sign pledges to never text and drive during the basketball double-header at Dell Rapids High School against Tea Area on Friday, December 18th.  Important information and statistics were also handed out at the ball games.