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The township’s fourth annual National Night Out observance Tuesday evening added a new attraction to make the community aware of an offense on the rise: distracted driving.
Brent Rose of Columbiana County, an Ohio Department of Transportation transportation manager, brought a distracted-driving simulator for all to try. The simulator provided participants two options: to drive impaired or to drive distracted.
“It gets kids aware of how distracted they really are, even when they don’t think they are,” he said.
John Beckett of Austintown drove distracted, running over a few virtual pedestrians and missing several stop signs.
“It’s good to get people to realize how dangerous it is,” he said.
Another danger that Night Out brings awareness to is not having open lines of communication with emergency personnel or first responders.
Todd Shaffer, Austintown Township Park supervisor, said it’s important, especially recently, to encourage positive interactions with police officers and the community.
“We just want to inform people that the badge is not something to fear,” he said.
Ohio State Highway Patrol officer Dan Deluca agreed and said letting residents see officers as “just regular people” helps them see officers in a better light.
“It’s nice to be a part of the community and not just a police officer,” he said. “We’re friendly, and we care about your families, too.”
Sara Macovitz of Girard said she enjoys bringing her family to the fun free event in a safe environment with so many members of the community together.
Her daughter, Gabrielle Macovitz, 12, said the event is all about spreading “knowledge about what’s going on in the community.”