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Schools

Officer Teaches About Dangers of Texting and Driving

Nora Kruis teaches a special driving class at the high school in Huntley called "Faces 4."

Huntley police officer Nora Kruis teaches the basics of driving safety to Huntley High School students. She talks about the dangers of speeding and drunk driving. But her course is also dedicated to one of the most serious issues among teen drivers: texting and driving.

Kruis has been teaching students every semester about these dangers as part of her “Faces 4” driver’s education class. 

“It was brought to me by my supervisors to start this program to educate new drivers in Driver’s Ed about the dangers of driving, texting and other dangers of the road,” she said. 

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She has been teaching the class for the past two years and been with the Huntley Police Department for four years. 

Some other examples of things she teaches during class are a juvenile’s license can become invalid if driving past curfew in their first year of driving or until they turn 18, she said. Motorists are not allowed to use a cell phone while driving unless it is to dial 911, she said.

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Kruis also mentions that no use can use a cell phone in a school or construction zone as well. 

“A lot of kids get out of school and use their cell phone right away and they cannot do that anymore,” she said. “They will get a pretty expensive ticket.”

Furthermore, if someone gets an underage drinking ticket, they can get their driving privileges taken away from them for three months, according to Kruis.  She also said these laws are all ones that were enacted sometime in the last two years. 

“That class is Driver’s Ed and the information they are talking about is important is the first years of having their license,” Kruis said.  “It is beneficial to have a law enforcement officer present to know what the rules of the road are.”

Cliff Pawlak, driver’s education instructor, said the children in class really respond to Kruis when she teaches and the fact that she is an authority figure and wears a police uniform. 

Pawlak said Kruis teaches that texting and driving is more serious than drowsy driving or drunk driving.

Texting while driving reduces a driver’s reaction time by 35 percent, according to textinganddrivingstatistics.com. That reduced reaction time means those who text and drive are 23 times more likely to get into a car accident, according to the site.

Kruis knows the dangers and tries to impact the students she’s teaching. She shows a video of a guy in Utah who was texting and driving. The man caused an accident that killed two people.

Texing and driving is not only dangerous, it's illegal to text based on a law that passed in January 2010 and fines start at $75, according to www.drivinglaws.org.

The class is taught once a semester. 

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