PONCA, NE -
One second and one bad decision, those two things can mean the difference between life and death when you're driving a vehicle.
That's why State Patrol and emergency workers are showing teenagers just how quickly things can go wrong when you're on the road.
Ponca High School's prom is Saturday, April 14th, and graduation season is right around the corner, so it's the perfect time to remind students how simple things like buckling up can save lives.
Friday in Ponca Nebraska, the "rollover simulator" was a very real demonstration of how seat belts save lives.
"The things that the seatbelts actually do for you are pretty unreal, you know, because without them you'll just get tossed around like a rag doll," said Ponca Senior Joshua Block.
When you get in a wreck, the forces are immense.
Imagine a baseball hitting a bat. If a 200 pound man wrecked a normal car going 30 miles per hour, he could potentially hit the windshield with 94 times the force of that ball hitting that bat.
It's a situation few would survive, but there's a good chance it can be avoided, just by buckling up.
"Every time you're in a motor vehicle wear your seatbelt, don't drink and drive, don't text and drive or drive distracted, and bottom line: wear your seatbelt," said Trooper Bill Price, a Community Service Officer with the Nebraska State Patrol.
Those state troopers and emergency workers were teaching students how to avoid rollover fatalities, which are up this year in Nebraska.
"We're 20 higher than last year," said Trooper Price. "And every one of those was not wearing a seatbelt and that's the biggest concern we have."
But seatbelt simulations weren't the only lessons these students would learn Friday.
A few lucky volunteers performed sobriety tests from walking a straight line to watching a pen, and some of them didn't do so well.
"Yeah it was actually pretty difficult," said Block. "I was struggling with it a little bit, I'm not going to lie."
With prom and graduations on the way, those trooper and emergency workers were hoping to save young lives the next time they get behind the wheel.
One of the other things those troopers touched on Friday: distracted driving.
It can be as simple as texting on your cell phone.
If you're doing that, it's the equivalent of having a blood alcohol level of .08 to .10, and you definitely don't want to be driving in that condition.
