(CONTRIBUTED)

MADISON – Special resource officers (SRO) with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office will offer a distracted driving course at Bob Jones High School.

In recent summers, the SROs have taught the course to teenagers who currently are driving or will drive in coming months. The course is free to participants.

Course dates will be June 27, July 8 and July 15. Rain dates will be July 23, 24 and 25.

The course covers etiquette at traffic stops, DUI laws, seatbelt laws, cell phone usage, texting while driving and distracted driving.

This program rotates to different high school campuses during summer months. Class size will be 20 students maximum daily. Students must be at least 15 years old and obtaining an Alabama driver’s permit in the near future.

Half of the course will involve PowerPoint presentations and classroom sessions about laws pertaining to DUI offenses, seatbelts, window tinting and television screens, among other subjects. The remainder of the course will involve students in hands-on driving, both undistracted and distracted.

The students will be graded on their first trip through the course with no distractions.

On the second trip, the ride-along deputy will instruct the students to send a text message, read a laminated card hanging on the rearview mirror to simulate reading a text message, retrieve a dropped item from the back seat or change songs on an iPod.

The officer will compare students’ scores for undistracted and distracted driving. On the distracted trip, students will lose points for hitting cones, driving too slow and other traffic infractions.

After completing the course, students will receive a certificate, which may qualify for a premium discount with some insurance companies.

For more information, call Sgt. David Moody at 256-533-8855, email to dmoody@madisoncountyal.gov or visit madisoncountyal.gov/sheriff/ and click “Distracted Teen Driving Program Information.”