SHAWNEE, Kan. — Johnson County teens got a hands-on lesson in sharing the road with professional truck drivers and their semis.
On Monday afternoon, after most Mill Valley High School students headed home, others went to their driver’s education class. Two professional drivers from FedEx were waiting to give them a tour of their over the road office.
Dean Harris has driven for FedEx for more than a decade.
"Most of the time we have accidents between cars and trucks, it's because people don't see us," said Harris.
The Johnson County teens were schooled on safe driving distances, blind spots, and where not to drive.
"Teens have a tendency to stay next to the truck for an extended period of time. Hanging there gives you more time to be in our blind spot, and blind spots are huge on trucks,” said Harris.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in 2015 2,333 teens in the United States were killed and 221,313 were treated in emergency rooms for injuries suffered in motor vehicle crashes.
Abby Toalson is 19 and has been driving for just over a year. She admits that semi trucks make her nervous. She said she learned a lot in the interactive class that allowed her to get inside a truck.
"I've driven next to one; it's pretty scary,” said Toalson. "I've learned that it's not nice having that vulnerable feeling of getting too close."
The Mill Valley School District offers this driver's education experience to students every year.
