2 Seconds Matter: April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month, so I’ve got a few questions for you. How many of you have ever used your cell phone while driving? How many of you have been a passenger in a car when the driver was using their phone? How many of you have come close to having an accident because you were a distracted driver when using a phone, or the passenger of someone using a phone. How many of you know someone who has been involved in a distracted driving accident?

Teenagers are four times more likely to crash than adult drivers. In fact, crashes remain the leading cause of death for this age group. Over the last 20 years, alcohol related fatal accidents have dropped by about 60%, but other fatal crashes for teens have gone up by about 35%. Basically, we’ve just traded drunk driving for distracted driving” according to David Strayer, a cognitive scientist at the University of Utah who studies cell phone use and crashes.

This lesson, activities, parent and educator tips, and supporting resources are brought to you by the Internet Keep Safe Coalition (iKeepSafe) and Cable in the Classroom.  You can find others in this series here, or at the iKeepCurrent website.