A student gets a trucker's perspective as she participates in the truck-safety demonstration.

Students from Massaponax High School gather around Luck Stone's Hardy Josephson as he speaks to them about safe driving tips.

Truck safety displayed at Massaponax High

Date published: 4/17/2007

Luck Stone held its third annual Truck Safety event at Massaponax High School on April 5 by teaming up with the Virginia Department of Transportation.

The purpose of the day-long event was to raise awareness among high-schoolers about sharing the road safely with large commercial vehicles and highway workers to minimize the probability of accidents.

Additionally, representatives from the Spotsylvania Sheriff's Office were at Massaponax High School talking to students about the negative repercussions of underage drinking and the importance of eliminating drunken driving.

"At Luck Stone, we strive daily to keep a safe environment in and around our crushed stone operations," said Steve Curtis, Luck Stone's transportation coordinator.

"It is so important that we reach out to these young drivers and share the lesson of work-zone safety awareness--not just during April in observance of National Work Zone Awareness Week, but year-round," said VDOT's David S. Ekern.

Luck Stone and VDOT officials were on-site teaching approximately 400 students how to safely share the road with truck drivers and highway workers. The event kicked off with a video session highlighting driver-do's and don'ts when approaching a work-zone area and sharing the road with large commercial vehicles.

Following the session, students divided into groups and congregated outside for the main truck-safety demonstration with the Luck Stone team. During the demonstration, students walked around and got inside the trucks that were parked among vehicles to demonstrate how easy it is for cars to get into a blind spot.

The final stop at the event was carried out by a representative from the Spotsylvania County Sheriff's Office who asked students to walk on a straight line while wearing "drunk" goggles, which are designed to simulate the vision of an impaired person.

Luck Stone's Truck Safety event afforded many students the opportunity to learn how to safely share the road with truck drivers and highway workers by making students more aware of work zones and less intimated by trucks by explaining the truck's structure and how that structure compares with vehicles in terms of its size, weight, limits and braking capabilities.

Read more stories about Spotsylvania
Date published: 4/17/2007