Happy April Fool’s Day everyone! While today is typically a fun day, we have something very important we want to talk about. As we have discussed before, April is Distracted Driving Awareness month. Since our business revolves around cell phones, we understand how much of a distraction they can be, especially on the road. That is why we wanted to take this time to remind everyone to keep their eyes on the road.
We live in digital age where we rely more and more on our phones, laptops, and tablets than ever before. While there are many positives that have come from this, one negative is the increased and continued use of these devices by people who are driving. It may seem hard to ignore a text or email or social media post while you’re driving, but it is imperative that you do your best to wait to check your phone until you are in a safe place to do so. Nothing you see on that phone will be more important than your life or the life of others. Getting into an auto accident can affect people other than you, like passengers, pedestrians, and other drivers as well as your family and friends. “3,308 people were killed in 2022 and an estimated additional 289,310 people injured in traffic crashes involving distracted drivers,” according to the NHTSA1. That is a startling statistic, and our goal is to help spread awareness to bring that number down as much as possible. Of those that were killed in distracted driving related crashes, 193 of them were teenagers2. Teens who are just starting to drive are at much more risk to become involved in auto accidents simply because of their inexperience, so adding unnecessary distractions doesn’t help.
That is why it is important to drive home the idea (pun intended) of keeping your eyes on the road rather than on your phone while teens are starting to drive. The earlier teens get into the habit of doing this, the better off they will be as they continue to drive. However, we also understand that having this conversation can be tough which is why we offer our W8T 2 TXT program. W8T 2 TXT is a distracted driving awareness program that we give at local high schools, driver's ed programs, etc. We tell the kids not to text and drive to help make thing easier on parents and educators. It also includes an interactive texting and driving simulation that is fun, while also showing how hard texting and driving can be. We offer this program completely FREE to help keep our communities safe. If you're interested in having us present at your school or event, please fill out the Distracted Driving Awareness Program form.
As you can see, there is too much risk associated with distracted driving, and the thing about it is that it is completely avoidable. And it is not just teens who choose to check their phones while driving. If we lived in a perfect world, no one would be on their phone while driving, but that is just not the case. In a survey conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, almost 100% of adults surveyed agreed that using a phone while driving is dangerous, but nearly 30% of them also said they had sent texts or emails while driving while nearly 40% said they had read a text or email while driving3.
In other words, people understand the risks of distracted driving and choose to use their phones anyway. This month, and going forward, we hope that you can make the decision to not use your phone and even encourage a friend for family member to do the same. Don’t be an April fool; keep your eyes on the road!
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