Schools
High School Students Promise Not to be All Thumbs While Driving
Monmouth Regional event ,"X the TXT," brings awareness to the dangers of texting while driving.
A news release from Allstate New Jersey.
More than 4,000 teens die each year in the United States due to car crashes, many of those who lose their life paying attention to “BRB” instead of the road.
To raise awareness about teen deaths caused by distracted driving, Allstate New Jersey Exclusive Agent Craig Grinberg teamed up withAssistant Principal Kathleen Mihalko to get hundreds of students to take a pledge not to text and drive. The teens placed their thumb prints on a large banner, which was set up in the school’s cafeteria. Each student who took the pledge also received a thumb band with “TXTNG KLLS” on it as an additional reminder of the danger of texting while driving.
Find out what's happening in Long Branch-Eatontownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Mihalko helped organize the event after hearing about it from Grinberg, an Allstate New Jersey agent in Tinton Falls. “When Craig approached me about doing an X the TXT event to get students in our school to take the pledge, I immediately thought it was an amazing opportunity to help them understand that it is not cool to text and drive,” said Mihalko. “In fact, it is deadly.”
According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, national statistics show texting and driving can increase your risk of crashing by 23 times.
Find out what's happening in Long Branch-Eatontownwith free, real-time updates from Patch.
“It is really important to bring awareness of this safety issue to young drivers,” said Grinberg. “Car crashes are the number one killer of teens, so it is important that they know how dangerous distracted driving really is. I am happy so many students took the pledge and I hope they stay true to their word.”
To host an X the TXT event in your community, please contact Allstate New Jersey agent Craig Grinberg at 732-922-4722.
Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.