The Summit Police Department and Board of Education are partnering with Shaping Summit Together and the Parents’ Coalition to Stop Teen Driving Deaths Now, Inc. for ‘Sack the Phone,’ a safe driving program was presented at Summit High School in May, 2018.
Sack the Phone focuses on the rapidly-growing epidemic of texting while driving. According to distraction.gov, each year distracted driving accounts for more than 3450 deaths and 200,000 injuries among drivers of all ages, and this number is believed by law enforcement experts to be hugely underreported.
“The objective of the program at Summit High School is to help young drivers to establish the life-saving habit of putting the phone away before and while driving,” explains Summit Police Chief Robert Weck. “It teaches ‘Five Essential Actions for Safe Driving’ that keep drivers focused on the road and on the safe operation of a vehicle rather than on using smart phone apps to text, tweet or snapchat. I thank Principal Stacy Grimaldi and Sergeant Charles Daly along with Annette Dwyer from Shaping Summit Together for their work in bringing this important program to Summit High School.”
Sack the Phone was designed by Bob Ragazzo, a certified driving instructor and founder of the Parents’ Coalition to Stop Teen Driving Deaths Now, Inc., to help prevent the thousands of senseless and preventable distracted driving tragedies occurring on roadways each day.
The Sack the Phone program is being brought to Summit HS in honor of Detective Matthew Tarentino, who was tragically lost in a car crash on May 30, 2017. Financial support was provided by the City of Summit and Shaping Summit Together.
For information on the Sack the Phone program visit stopteendrivingdeaths.org or contact Bob Ragazzo at info@stopteendrivingdeaths.org.
(above, l-r) Police Officer Christian Eriksen, Robert Ragazzo (Sack the Phone, CEO), Annette Dwyer (Shaping Summit Together, Chairman), Sergeant Charlie Daly and Nicholas Steffner (Summit High School, Vice Principal)
