Teens and Distracted

Driving

IntroductionIntroduction

• 80% of crashes and 65% of near crashes involved some sort of driver distraction.

• Teens are 4x more likely to be in a wreck then drivers over age 30.

IntroductionIntroduction

• Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 16-20 year olds.

• 5,500 fatalities annually. 450,000 injuries annually.

IntroductionIntroduction

• 14% of all deaths due to motor vehicle accidents involve a teenage driver.

• 53% of the time teen driver deaths occur on weekends.

SurveySurveyPlease answer Yes or No on your responders.

• Have you ever spoken on a cell phone while driving?

• Have you ever sent text messages while driving?

• Have you ever had a conversation with a friend while driving?

SurveySurveyPlease answer Yes or No on your responders.

• Do you listen to the radio while driving?

• Do you adjust the station on your radio or change the CD while driving?

• Do you drive when you are tired?• Do you eat and drive?

SurveySurveyPlease answer Yes or No on your responders.

• Girls – do you put on makeup while driving?

• Do you have a GPS system that you use while driving?

• Do you listen to your iPod while driving?

DWT: Driving while textingHow many of you would consider writing a paper or watching a movie

on your laptop while driving?

• Texters in the US sent 158 billion messages last year. Up 95% from 2005.

• 13% of teens admit to texting while

driving.

DWT: Driving while texting

• The average teen takes their eyes off of the road 10% of the time. That jumps to 40% when a teen is texting while driving.

• Texting means a 400% increase in the amount of time that your eyes are off the road.

DWT: Driving while texting

• 140% increase in lane violations while texting.

• Many states are now banning texting while driving. Fines are as high as $101 per text in some states.

Driving While Using Driving While Using Your Cell PhoneYour Cell Phone

• Talking on your cell phone while driving is the most common distraction drivers face.

• In many states it is already illegal for teenagers and adults to use their cell phones while driving.

• In a recent survey, 73% of drivers surveyed admitted to using their cell phones while driving.

• Drivers who use their cell phones while driving are 4x more likely to be in an accident.

DWE: Driving While EatingWhat do you think the Top 10 most dangerous

foods to eat in the car are?

• 10 – Chocolate. Whatever you touch gets sticky, driver’s instinctive reactions are to clean and that is distracting.

• 9 – Soft Drinks. Open containers can cause a lack of driver concentration when spilled.

DWE: Driving While Eating,continued

• 8 – Jelly and Cream Filled Doughnuts. Drivers become more focused on the messy jelly oozing out than driving.

• 7 – Fried Chicken. Greasy hands are a distraction as driver’s try to clean them. Plus, grease is almost impossible to clean off of a steering wheel.

Driving While Eating, continued

• 5 – Hamburgers. Dripping condiments, special sauces and greasy meat drip out of the bun and onto your shirt. The $5 Hamburger becomes $500 - $5,000 worth of repairs.

• 6 – BBQ. BBQ sauce is messy. Remember: If it drips, don’t eat it while driving.

Driving While Eating, continued

• 4 – Chili. Anything containing chili such as a chili dog is dangerous. Steering chili to your mouth while steering your car requires more dexterity than humans possess.

• 3 – Tacos. This food can disassemble itself. One good road bump and the seat of your car looks like a salad bar.

Driving While Eating, continued

• 2 – Hot soups. Eating soup while driving is like attempting a juggling act.

• 1 – Coffee. Coffee spills are the worst because drivers try to make immediate clean up while still driving. Hot coffee can also cause serious burns that divert a driver’s focus away from the road.

Sleepy Driving

Sleepy Driving…

• 100,000 reported crashes per year as a result of drowsiness. 1,500 of them result in deaths.

• 55% of those crashes were caused by drivers under the age of 25.

• Some states are requiring that sleep deprived drivers that cause accidents that kill someone be charged with vehicular homicide.

Sleepy Driving,continued

• Fall asleep for 2.5 seconds going 70 MPH and you just traveled the length of a football field while sleeping.

• Being awake for 18 hours has the same effect on your driving as being legally drunk.

How Tired is Too Tired?: Are you at risk for a sleepy driving crash?

Factors to consider.

• 6 Hours of sleep or less triples your risk.

• Pull over and take a nap if you: – 1. Have trouble keeping your eyes open.– 2. Are frequently blinking or yawning.– 3. Are feeling restless or irritable. – 4. Are having trouble remembering the

last few miles you’ve driven.

Driving While Impaired

Driving While Impaired…

• 28% of drivers age 15-20 that were in accidents had been drinking.

• 39% of all fatal crashes involved alcohol.

• During the last 30 days, 28.5% of high school students admitted to riding in a car driven by someone who had been drinking alcohol.

• Driving while impaired slows your reaction time.

Driving While Impaired…continued

If you are driving while impaired it can end

up on your permanent record. This affects your ability to:

• Go to college.

• Receive financial aid or scholarships for college.

• Get a job.

• Get your own car insurance as an adult.

Driving While Impaired…continued

Distracted Driving: Changing the Radio, Talking to your Friends, Putting

on Makeup, etc. • Driver inattention is the leading factor in

crashes.• 45% of teen drivers killed in car accidents have

a friend in the car with them. • Changing the radio, talking to your friends

and/or putting on makeup etc. all take your attention off the road.

Distraction Activity

• Can you really pay attention while distracted?

• Let’s find out.

Discussion• Results –

• Analysis –

• Conclusion –

• How can we become more attentive drivers?

Wrap-up

• Reducing or eliminating as many distractions as possible can reduce your risk of being in a motor vehicle accident.

• The person calling your cell phone can wait, the radio doesn’t need to be changed until you reach a stop light, your makeup looks great, and you can catch up with your friends when you arrive at your destination.

Wrap-up

Don’t become a statistic.