Valley County Health Department Sponsors Red Thumb Day

To remind everyone to put down their cell phone while driving, the Valley County Health Department will be hosting the 3rd Annual Red Thumb Reminder Day Walk on Tuesday, Apr. 10, starting at 3:30 p.m. Come join the Valley County Health Department, Glasgow High School, Glasgow Middle School, JMG students, Glasgow High School Student Council members, and community members to experience hands-on learning about how distractive sending or reading a simple text can be.

Community members are invited to start the walk at either the City-County Library on 3rd Ave. S., the Community Room of the Court House, the Loaded Toad or the Police Department/Fire Department, and then make their way to the other three participants. Each of these locations will have an anti-texting and driving activity to increase the awareness of the dangers associated with texting and driving. Activities range from getting your mug shot, trying an obstacle course and seat belt convincer. Participants can earn stamps at each location, and after earning four stamps, their completed card will be entered into a drawing to win a Samsung Galaxy tablet, wireless ear buds, coffee cards and much more. For every completed card, participants automatically win a RTRD 2018 T-shirt.

Pledges can also be signed to never text and drive, and for those who can’t or don’t drive yet, they can sign a pledge to remind whoever they ride with to never text and drive. Participants will also be able to paint their thumbnail red as an obvious reminder for all drivers to focus on driving safely.

According to the Valley County Health Department, sending or receiving a text takes a driver’s eye from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds, which is the equivalent of driving the length of an entire football field blind, when going 55 mph. This is an epidemic in America, which causes drivers everywhere to black out for five seconds at a time.  The Health Department’s goal in hosting this annual event is to increase awareness of the dangers of texting and driving, and to change driving behaviors of everyone in the community.

Any sponsor or volunteer who would like to be a part of Red Thumb Reminder Day Walk, call 406-228-6261.