NORWICH – Each summer the Norwich City School District prepares a wave of new drivers for life behind the wheel with its driver education program.

On Wednesday, the 48 students registered in this year’s six-week program were able to see first-hand the traumatic effects of a rollover accident, thanks to a demonstration from the New York State Police Troop C and traffic safety officer Trooper Peter Grunder. Grunder used a rollover simulator in the school’s parking to prove the potentially devastating outcome of a rollover accident.

According to Trooper Grunder, motor vehicle injuries remain the top killer of teens in the U.S. In 2010, seven teens ages 16-19 died every day from motor vehicle injuries, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Grunder said 23 percent of crashes in 2009 in nearby Broome County were the cause of distracted driving, the leading age group for those accidents being drivers under the age of 20.

But that doesn’t have to be the case, said Grunder. The key is to educate young people on how to be responsible before climbing into the driver’s seat.

“The whole program is really emphasized on the kids' behavior and their attitude about being a driver,” said course instructor John Mason. “A lot of the misconceptions are that a course in driver’s education is all about getting a kid to pass the road test. Obviously that's important; but the emphasis in our program is to work on their attitude about wanting to be a driver who is going to carry the knowledge they gain as a result of the course to the highway transportation system every time they drive.”