Frightening scene in Columbus a reminder to not drive distracted
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) -- Drivers along Stelzer Road saw a frightening scene on Halloween night, and it had nothing to do with the holiday.
A faith-based group set up a staged distracted driving crash to teach an important lesson. The scenario is a crash between a driver texting, someone tired from a long work day and a motorcyclist coming home from a bar on Halloween night.
"It's not okay to drive distracted; it only takes one second and sometimes we don't consider something until it happens to us so if we can avoid it from happening to anybody the world would be a better place," event organizer Natasha Trinity Ford said.
Drivers are urged to pull into the parking lot of the Children's Achievers Faith Academy, then actors will start the scene. The goal is to spread awareness.
"Even just when we do it neighborhoods to tell people just to slow down and watch out for kids coming through the neighborhood," Trinity Ford said.
From Oct. 5 through Oct. 20, the Ohio State Highway Patrol gave out more than 1,000 distracted driving citations. More than 900 of those were because of an electronic device.
It’s something that the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office is also trying to put a stop to.
"There are serious consequences even if you don't hit anyone. You will be pulled over you will be issued a citation and you're going to wind up in court. Insurance costs go up, citations cost a lot of money and it goes on your driving record," Franklin County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Griffin Bluestone said.
Bluestone says FCSO has seen an uptick in crashes, and they are trying to get ahead of it.
"For example, I pulled a man over that was watching Netflix while driving. So it's prevalent. It's out there," Bluestone said.
"If we can become aware and we can kind of train ourselves, train our children not to drive distracted, then we'll have safer roads," Trinity Ford said.
If you want to stop by and see the distracted driving set up for yourself, it will be on display until Nov. 2 at 10 a.m.