Williamson County Schools is making new student drivers sit through a safety course with their parents. It’s a response to the six students killed in car accidents last year.
Any driver who wants to park on campus will have to take a one-hour class called the
Checkpoints Program. Roughly 1,300 students and their parents have completed it in the last few weeks, and the videos are just as much for the adults.
The sketches offer suggested limits for teens, like parents holding onto the keys and requiring explicit permission for every trip.
“We are starting a conversation between a parent and a student,” Summit High School principal Sarah Lamb said
in a statement. “They can decide what these rules look like in their household.”
We’ve had 1257 students complete the Checkpoints program and more classes are scheduled. I appreciate everyone’s commitment toward safety.
pic.twitter.com/SmZdrnpe59— Dr. Mike Looney (@wcsDirofSchools)
August 3, 2017
But the class is meant to scare them a little. One slide shows how crashes skyrocket in the first month a driver gets a license. The district is trying to
prevent a repeat of last year when students who died struck trees, fell out of a truck bed and otherwise lost control of a car.
Schools have been offering the course over the last few weeks and will continue to hold classes as students start getting their drivers licenses through the year. Williamson County is going further than most school systems. Metro Schools only requires proof of insurance and license to park on campus.
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