Safe. Not Sorry.
That is the message Tallahassee Community College mass media students have for their peers. It is also the name of the traffic safety fair they
are organizing to help educate fellow students to keep themselves and others safe on the road.
The event, which is sponsored by the TCC Alumni & Friends Association and American Safety Institute, will be held from 11 a.m.– 1 p.m. on
Tuesday, April 17*, in the parking lot behind the Lifetime Sports Complex at TCC.
More than 10 organizations have confirmed their participation. They include the Tallahassee Police Department, Leon County Sheriff’s Office, Leon County Emergency Management Services, Florida SADD, MADD, StarMetro, Leon County Schools, FSU Commuter Services, and the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles. Exhibitors will have interactive demonstrations such as a distracted driving simulator, motorcycle simulator, drunk goggles and free bicycle helmet fittings. There also will be music and free food.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month.
This is the second year that Professor Reggie Grant’s class has organized the event, which is inspired by Demetrius Branca. Demetrius’ son, Anthony, was a TCC student who was hit and killed in 2014 while on the way to school. Shortly after the death of his “best friend,” Branca started the Anthony Phoenix Branca Foundation to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving.
Branca spoke in the TCC mass media class in early February to kick off the project.
“I think this is an important project because it is bringing awareness about safe driving,” said TCC student Amanda England, who has taken a lead role in organizing the event’s
logistics. “Personally, I have lost three people I have known due to distracted driving. So, to me, this topic is specifically important so that we can keep ourselves and others safe on the roads.”
Students in the class have created a website and social media accounts to promote the event, which will include the display of a crashed car. Retired Florida State Trooper Philip Stuart travels the state with his “crashed car tour” as part of his teen safe driving initiative IMPAACT, Informing More Pupils About Auto Crash Tragedies.
“I certainly hope our event would make a difference on Tallahassee’s roads, though I also can’t deny the bull-headed nature of our generation,” said TCC student Steven Boies, who designed the event’s logo and other promotional materials. “I do think that seeing a destroyed car in person could have a more significant impact on these students. I think imagining oneself in the driver’s seat of a car destroyed by distracted driving would stick with people.”
Six out of 10 teen crashes involve distracted driving, according to a study conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety.
A bill that would make distracted driving a primary offense in Florida was unanimously passed in the Florida House this past legislative session. However, the bill never got a hearing in the Florida Senate.
State Representative Emily Slosberg (D-Boca Raton) was one of the sponsors of that bill. Rep. Slosberg has made traffic safety one of her priority issues.
When she was 14, Rep. Slosberg was one of seven middle schoolers riding in the back of a car driven by an older teen. A Sun-Sentinel article said the car was traveling about 90 mph when it hit the median and slammed into an oncoming car. She survived with serious injuries but five others didn’t, including her twin sister Dori.
The Dori Slosberg Foundation, created to advocate for traffic safety, also will exhibit at the TCC safety event.
“Students think that they are invincible,” Rep. Slosberg said. “But it only takes one bad decision before a student ends up injuring and even killing somebody.
“It is vital for students to be educated on the dangers associated with driving.”
For more information visit the Safe. Not Sorry. website.
*Event time has changed to Tuesday, April 17 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.
