Drunk & Distracted Drivers

Last week John Luciew wrote an interesting piece in The Patriot News.  The article about distracted driving raised a lot of interesting points and statistics.  However, there was one important point of Mr. Luciew’s article that is not commonly discussed and that I believe is important.

Specifically, I was struck by Mr. Luciew’s interview of a driving school teacher.  In that interview, the driving school teacher discusses the lack of basic driving knowledge among today’s teenagers. 

Why do today’s driver’s education students lack the knowledge of previous generations?  The article suggests that it is because of technology.  Not only are teens distracted when they get behind the wheel, they’ve been distracted passengers for many years before applying for a license. 

Today’s teenagers have been watching TV in the back of minivans, playing on their game systems in the middle of their SUVs and texting their friends from the front seat of their sedans.  They have not been paying attention to their parents driving habits.  They have not been paying attention to the road.

Don’t let a distracted passenger become a distracted driver.  Talk to your child about safe driving and about the rules of the road.  Encourage your child to watch your safe driving habits.  You will be glad that you did.

The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), AAA and Seventeen Magazine have teamed up to create a video contest that will end this Friday.  The National Two-Second Turnoff Day Viral Video Challenge, which runs from August 2 – September 10, 2010, is designed to raise awareness about the dangers of texting and driving among young drivers.

 If you are a teenager who would like to participate, you need to create a video to combat distracted driving and upload it to www.seventeen.com/twosecond. The winner’s video will be shared at the DOT’s second annual distracted driving summit on September 21, and be featured on websites for Seventeen Magazine, AAA and the DOT.  The winner will also receive a $2,000 cash prize.

 This contest is meant to be a fun way to combat a serious problem.  In addition to the contest prizes described above, teenagers are provided with a real and meaningful way to learn about the dangers of distracted driving and to save lives.