TXT.U.L8R campaign highlights dangers of texting and driving

Rachel Young, a 16-year-old sophomore at Dunlap High School, reluctantly admitted to sending text messages while stopped at red lights in her car. However, after a presentation given to her and fellow sophomore students last week, she said she plans to ditch the habit.

The presentation came from the family of Evan Knoblauch, a Washington High School student who lost his life in a one-car accident Jan. 5, 2008.

“It doesn’t really seem real until you hear about it happening locally. It freaks me out,” Young said. 

Knoblauch’s football helmet and a collage of photographs lined the stage of the auditorium as his mother, father, younger brother and girlfriend at the time of the accident took turns vividly recounting the day they learned of the 18-year-old’s death. They spoke to the students on the dangers of distracted driving as a part of the “TXT.U.L8R” campaign, a senior project of four Bradley University public relations students: Sarah Meagher, Stephanie Toepke, Samantha Mehew and Sarah Smith.

Meagher said for the project, which is completed by all BU public relations majors, they matched up a for-profit organization, Mike Miller Auto Park, and a not-for-profit organization, Dunlap High School. 

“We chose to do something that might affect a lot of people,” Meagher said. “It’s basically a safe-driving campaign focused on distractions while driving, especially texting while driving.”

Meagher said her group asked the Knoblauchs to be a part of the campaign by telling their story to area teenagers. She said the Knoblauchs seemed interested when they were asked if they would consider continuing with similar presentations in the future.

“The day a teenager gets their driver’s license can be one of the most exciting days of their life,” Evan’s mother, Susie Knoblauch, said at the assembly. “The license feels like a ticket to freedom. Unfortunately all too often, it’s also a ticket to accidents, injuries or fatalities.

“We’d like for you to connect a face and personalize the impact that a driving fatality can have on a school, your student body, your community and your parents,” she said.
Sgt. Tony Hallsey, District 8 public safety information officer with the Illinois State Police, addressed students on a few of the newer driving laws.

“Starting Jan. 1, 2010, nobody in the state of Illinois, no matter how old they are, can text message while driving down the road,” he said. “It is against the law in the state of Illinois.”

Other laws, he said, make it illegal for anybody under the age of 19 to use a cell phone at all while driving. It is also against the law, Hallsey said, to use a cell phone through a school zone or a construction zone.

“Taking your eyes off of the road for one second can ruin not only your life, but also your family’s lives and maybe somebody else’s,” Hallsey said.

Also at the assembly, prizes were awarded to the first-, second- and third-place entries of a school-wide competition to create public service announcements about the dangers of texting while driving. Students in groups of up to five were asked to create a 30- to 60-second PSA that would appeal to their peers.

Megan Boedecker, a Dunlap junior, placed first in the competition. Her PSA bombarded the audience with percentages and showed a teenage girl trying to decide whether she should ignore her cell phone while driving and listening to loud music.

“This stuff is amazing,” said Mike Miller of Mike Miller Auto Park, who donated prizes and announced the winner. “This is natural talent.”

You can hear the girl’s heart pound and her breathing as she attempts to stay focused on the road amid the distractions inside her vehicle.

“There is nothing more important than keeping your eyes on the road,” Miller said.
Knoblauch said her son was a well-rounded student who played football, was involved in wrestling, track and student council.

The audience watched news coverage from the time of Evan Knoblauch’s death. They saw his football teammates walk to his visitation at Five Points in uniform. They saw the makeshift memorial at Washington High School where students brought cards and flowers. They saw the impact his death had on Washington.

“Through Evan’s death, we cannot stress enough the importance of safe driving,” Susie Knoblauch said to the students. “Please be safe on the road, because now you know how quickly a life can be lost and how it can affect a school, a family and a community.”

After the presentation, about 125 students signed a TXT.U.L8R banner which reads, “I hearby promise to make my car a safe driving zone and TXT.U.L8R.” 

Meagher said the banner will hang at the Mike Miller Auto Park in Peoria.