U of MN – Rochester

Distracted Driving Crackdown


(ABC 6 NEWS) – Hundreds of Minnesota law enforcement agencies are hoping to prevent tragic accidents like that, with a distracted driving crackdown that starts today.

Now, UMR is also joining the effort.

A high-tech simulator made a stop in Rochester today, as part of its “Arrive Alive” tour.

“We’ve brought in Stop-Loss. It’s an impaired driving simulator,” said Parry Telander, a Student Success Coach at UMR.

And it’s aimed to crack down, not only on drunk driving, but distracted driving as well.

“There is a problem. People are just distracted and they find ways to distract themselves while driving, majority of it is texting or eating on the road, to just drinking a can of pop, to talking with their spouses or with their kids,” said Telander.

“Of course, I’ve driven when distracted. Everyone has. Mainly it’s me talking on the phone, not texting, but obviously I’ve texted before too,” said Luke Schulte, a freshman at UMR.

“I kinda figured I’d crash, I just didn’t realize it’d be this hard,” said Max Jakel, a freshman at UMR.

“This is as real as we can make it,” said Telander.

“I hit people, and if that was real life, those people would have been dead, and I would have had to deal with that,” said Jakel.

so while they may be able to walk away without the consequences, the goal is that they won’t walk away without the lesson.

“I think we’re going to find an impact. We’re expecting that and we’re hoping for that,” said Telander.

Organizers also passed out thumb bands to remind drivers not to text.