NASCAR driver Kasey Kahne was 16 and driving some friends to a girls high-school volleyball game an hour from his home in Seattle, Wash., when a car suddenly came right at him. He said he swerved to avoid the driver, but his car was damaged, and one of his friends and the other driver, who was drunk, were injured.
Kahne told an appreciative audience of East Forsyth High School juniors yesterday that the incident helped cement his perspective on the need for teenagers to drive safely. He shared that story and advice about driving with about 450 students in a program sponsored by Allstate and Kahne's NASCAR team, Gillett Evernham Motorsports. Allstate also sponsors Kahne's team.
The Allstate Teen Safe Driving Pit Stop program's visit here -- Kahne and teammate Elliott Sadler have conducted others in Phoenix, Charlotte and Kansas City, among other cities -- was the last for 2008 and also the largest, said John Roberts of SPEED TV. Roberts moderated the question-and-answer session. It was the only appearance made in a city without a Sprint Cup track.
Kernersville Allstate agent Bob Hicks arranged the visit after a call came from the corporate office requesting Hicks' help in finding a high school. East Principal Patricia Gainey said that Hicks could have chosen any school in Guilford or Forsyth County.
"He jockeyed for us, and we really appreciate it. The statistics of teen fatalities at this time of year are overwhelming,'' Gainey said. "If we can keep ours alive, then we've done a good job here today."
Roberts told students that car wrecks are the top reason teens die in America, and he shared a personal story about the recent death of a family friend.
"More than 6,000 teens die every year, and 300,000 more are injured as a result of careless driving," said Roberts, citing statistics compiled by the 2006 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety Fatality Facts.
From Thanksgiving to New Year's Day, the statistics for teen fatalities in car accidents in North Carolina rise to their highest totals of the year. North Carolina ranks 17th in the nation for the most teen auto-related deaths.
During the holiday season, the state's rank climbs to 13th.
Kahne was dressed in black Converse tennis shoes, jeans and a gray, zip-up hoodie, and could have passed for a member of his audience. When he spoke, though, the students listened attentively.
Kahne shared how his parents stressed safe driving to him. He said he got his driver's license when he was in ninth grade, long before most of his peers. Because of that, he wound up frequently driving his friends, as he did the day of his accident.
He said that having an accident in a regular car is much different from an accident in a NASCAR vehicle because of all of the safety features in a race car.
Kahne told the students that texting was the worst thing that they could do while driving. He admitted to having tried it himself. "I can't drive and text. You just can't do it and drive safely," he said.
Roberts said that driving while distracted increases chances for a wreck by 50 percent.
"Sixty-five percent of teen passenger deaths happen when another teen is driving," Roberts said.
Kahne also said that teen drivers must not let friends in the back seat affect their performance.
East junior Crystal Coffield, a racing buff, said she was ecstatic to have Kahne visit the school.
"This really made my day," she said. "I learned not to text while I'm driving. I have done that and almost ran off of the road. It's dangerous. It means more to hear someone with more experience at really driving tell us never to drive and text."
Seventeen-year-old Salomon Pinargote says that his parents' influence has made him a safe driver.
"I try to be a safe driver. I don't use my cell phone. I keep my music at a normal level so I can hear what is happening around me. My parents, especially my dad, are always talking to me about it," Pinargote said.
■ Monica Young can be reached at cyoung9@triad.rr.com.
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