BROKEN ARROW, Okla. — 2 News Oklahoma talked to a driving instructor after six high school students died in a crash in Johnston County on Tuesday.
The crash happened around 12:20 p.m. The Oklahoma Highway Patrol report said six girls, students at Tishomingo High School, crashed into a semi-truck at the junction of Highway 377 and State Highway 22. The teens were all in a 2015 Chevrolet Spark.
MORE >>> Six Oklahoma high school students die in highway crash
Four girls died at the scene of the crash. Two others died at the hospital. The driver of the semi-truck was not injured from the crash. The driver was a 16-year-old girl, another girl was 17-years-old, and the other four were 15 years old.
James Fix, owner of Tiger Driving School in Broken Arrow says the news about a crash, like the one in Tishomingo, is his biggest fear. For nearly 15-years, he’s taught more than 8,000 students to drive.
Fix says teens are especially vulnerable to crashes and driving with a friend increases that risk by 50%. He says it’s often caused by distractions.
It can also be illegal depending on the driver’s age. Oklahoma’s “graduated license law,” introduced in 2010, says teen drivers must have their license for six months before they can have more than one passenger in their car at a time.
However, Fix says that’s still not long enough.
“I push my parents to not let the kids drive with anybody for weeks and that they drive by themselves. And ideally, the restriction, the 6-month one, I would like them to leave that one for a year, if not until they age out at 18,” Fix said.
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