City of Vernon hosted “Distracted Driving Day” event
VERNON, AL. (WCBI) – According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, over 3,000 lives were lost to a distracted driver in 2022. City leaders in Vernon are trying to decrease those numbers in 2025. City leaders and educators came together to educate juniors and seniors in Lamar County Alabama about the importance of not being distracted while driving.
Tragically, Mike Lutzenkirchen, knows the dangers of Distracted driving too well.
“My son Phillip played at Auburn from 2009-2012, his name was Phillip Lutzenkirchen,” said Lutzenkirchen. “We lost him in a single-vehicle crash as a passenger.”
Lutzenkirchen shared with Lamar County juniors and seniors the importance of being focused while behind the wheel.
“God’s plan for me is to go out and use Phillip’s platform to help these teens here in Lamar today to hopefully not make poor decisions involving drinking, speeding, not wearing seatbelts, distracted driving, and so forth,” said Lutzenkirchen.
The event was split into four different groups. One group showed students the trauma that comes from the aftermath of a distracted driving crash, two groups gave safety tips about driving near big vehicles like 18-wheelers and school buses, and the other group gave teens hands-on experience with goggles.
Trying to walk this line is a lot harder than it looks.
“What I want them to take away from this is that when you are in a car, you are in a couple of tons and a missile,” said Michael Wisdom, Event Organizer. “You need to pay attention to your surroundings. There is a reason why it is 10 and 2, and your hands should be on the steering wheel and your eyes on the road.”
“Our kids are our county’s most valuable resource, and we want to protect that resource,” said Wisdom.
With Teens crashing in to cones while driving golf carts and stumbling over the walking paths with the drunk driving goggles on, Kaylee Crawford and Laiken Snow said this event opened their eyes to some of the unseen dangers of distracted driving.
The distracted driving group sessions were held at the City Hall in Vernon.
More than 200 students from Lamar County High Schools participated.
