Distracted Driving: Practical Steps For Communities

Did you know that distracted drivers are the top cause of car wrecks in the U.S. today? The negative consequences of texting while driving can be devastating and fatal, especially for young drivers. So why are more communities not focused on solving this problem? I have not personally experienced an accident caused by texting while driving, but riding with friends who text and drive causes me to feel unsafe. As a community, we must educate teen drivers about the dangers of texting and driving. We must also give parents practical steps to help end this significant and fatal problem for their teens. Simply spreading awareness about texting and driving is not enough. Communities must plan and take action steps to prevent these horrific accidents among our teens. Texting while driving substantially increases the risk for accidents and death for both teen and adult drivers. However, according to AT&T’s Teen Driver Survey, 97% of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous, yet 43% do it anyway. So how can communities solve this critical problem? What impactful steps can we take?

I believe the first step to convey to teen drivers that texting can lead to serious and fatal accidents is to educate them. Drivers Education is a required course for public high schools in Alabama, and the dangers of texting and driving should be included in the course curriculum. Teachers must do more than simply showing a video about the seriousness of this issue. Schools must do more than spread awareness. Direct instruction about the topic must be in every high school.

Students are more likely to listen to real-life stories and learn from them rather than just reading an article or watching short videos on the topic of texting and driving. If each high school could find volunteers who may have lost a child due to cell phone use while driving, they may be willing to share their personal experiences to help prevent other teens from losing their lives. Communities could start a charity to get volunteers out into the public and private high schools more easily. I believe that parents who have lost their child to this avoidable accident would be willing to join the charity and seek opportunities to prevent this from happening and save lives. High schools could also offer incentives for students such as giving teens devices that enable “hands free” cell phone calls installed in vehicles. Schools could even offer contests such as digital presentations, tri-fold presentations with research papers, or videos to make students find and share information about texting and driving.

The second step to prevent teens from driving is to educate the parents of teen drivers. Although communities can’t require parents to come to a meeting about this issue, they can offer incentives. For example, funds from the charity mentioned above (or other fundraising attempts) could offer $50 gift cards for parents willing to come to a meeting about the dangers of teens texting while driving. Another incentive might be giving some sort of discount at a car dealership for attending a meeting. At these parent meetings, law enforcement officers, city council members, or other community leaders could present statistics on cell phone usage and teen driving. For example, did you know that texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an accident than driving drunk? Also, one out of every four car crashes in the United States is caused by texting and driving. I think many parents would be astonished to find out these statistics and hopefully enforce rules in their home about cell phone use while driving. During the meeting, leaders can show parents how to download apps such as TrueMotion Family or Drivermode and offer another incentive if parents can show that they have downloaded the app and are using it over the course of a month. Parents can also be encouraged to download the Lifeway 360 app to be aware of when their child is driving so that they do not text or call during that time.

One suggestion for parents should be to set an example. If teens see their parents texting while driving, they will be more likely to do so themselves. Parents should pledge to put their phones away while driving before leaving the community meetings. Recruiting parent volunteers to help educate other parents and teens could be a result of these parent education programs to help spread awareness.

One final step communities can take to help ensure the safety of young drivers is to reflect. Tracking statistics to see if the strategies used to educate teens and their parents would be one way to tell if accidents due to texting have decreased over time. Students and parents could also complete surveys with a possible incentive attached. Police officers in each community could report the number of tickets issued for texting while driving. Fundraising efforts to end cell phone usage while driving could be reflected on by determining which incentives worked best for teens and parents. Then if more funds or needed, or if the current funds need to be allocated differently, adjustments can be made.

As you can see, there are several ways that communities can come together to take practical steps toward ending texting and driving. Educating teen drivers, educating parents of teen drivers, and reflecting on best practices will help end this momentous problem. Educating teens through required Drivers Education programs can be effective by using real life stories from parents and other teens who have been negatively impacted by texting and driving. Educating parents at community meetings can be done by ensuring attendance and cooperation through the use of incentives. Community fundraisers or a charity can provide funding for these incentives to parents and teens. Spreading awareness is not enough. We must directly educate our youth and their parents on how to stop texting while driving. Reflecting on these strategies and practical steps by gathering data for statistics can help communities see which strategies work best over a period of time. Coming together to make an action plan for ending texting and driving among teens is crucial.