State agencies encourage safe driving on prom night

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Prom night is what high schoolers look forward to each year.

The formal and fancy clothes, the pictures, the meal, and a night of dancing.

Those are the memories everyone wants those teens to walk away with.

Unfortunately, that does not always happen.

A few moments of distraction can turn a night of fun into a tragedy.

“Driving requires 100% of your attention, 100% of the time,” said Senior Staff Sergeant Derrick Beckom with the Mississippi Highway Patrol – Troop G.

Mississippi Highway Patrol encourages safe driving on prom night.

“Seatbelts and airbags, they go hand and hand. No one plans on having a crash when they’re inside a vehicle. So, we need you to give yourself the best opportunity to survive if you are,” said Beckom.

MHP and the Mississippi Department of Rehabilitation Services spoke to Columbus High School students on Wednesday, April 16, about safe driving.

For the past eight years, they have toured schools around the state advocating for smart decisions during one of the highlights of senior year. Prom.

Their campaign is Please Return On Monday.

“We realized we do have the same goals in mind. We’re trying to prevent these crashes and injuries and deaths that are occurring on the roadways because of some bad choices that are being made,” said Allison Lowther, the Outreach Specialist for MDRS.

Several studies, along with state troopers, report Mississippi ranking as one of the top states for fatal teen crashes.

Columbus High School Graduate and P.R.O.M. spokesperson, Mercetia Jenkins, also shared her story with the students.

She was injured in an accident her junior year and was not wearing her seatbelt.

“It’s very, very, close to me, and I want the students to practice safe driving. No texting and driving, no drinking and driving, wearing their seatbelts. Making it back home and returning the same way that they leave on Friday,” said Jenkins.

But if they can’t return the same way, the Department of Rehabilitation Services works with those involved in accidents who become disabled.

“We deal with the survivors and not everyone thinks about that, the full circle of consequences,” said Lowther.

Since starting the P.R.O.M campaign eight years ago, MHP said none of the schools they visited have reported any fatal crashes.

Together, the agencies have visited 70 schools in two months during prom season.

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