Keep Teens Safe: National Distracted Driving Awareness Month

A single text message sent behind the wheel can mean sudden death. National Distracted Driving Awareness Month was established to focus attention on the perils of distracted driving. Statistics reveal that younger drivers are far more inclined to text while driving. Young drivers also lack experience, adding to the problem. The lack of experience can only be solved through years of operating a vehicle in various conditions. Your ability to avoid an accident and make the right “snap decision” is based upon your experience and your focus on the road ahead.

Let’s Look at the Facts

Not to be alarming, if you look over the statistics you can get a fast education on the dangers of distracted driving. The NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) reports that in a recent year drivers ages 15 to 19 accounted for 10 percent of fatal crashes associated with distracted driving. People aged 20 – 34 come in at a close second. No driver wants to be responsible for hurting another person, or to be injured themselves.  Fifty-seven percent of those who died were the drivers themselves, and the remaining 43 percent were passengers or occupants of other vehicles, and some were pedestrians or bike riders. Don’t be the driver who injures or kills another person. It isn’t something you can ever forget, and will impact your life forever. Here are some tips that can help you be part of the solution, and keep yourself and your friends safe.

Be Gutsy and Speak Up.

You have influence on your friends. What you say and do can make a big difference in what they do. If you see your friend doing something dangerous, you need to say something – fast. If you are driving with another person who picks up a phone to read or send a text, speak up and demand that the person stop, NOW. If he or she won’t, demand to get out of the car. It isn’t a joke – you can be serious about it. Don’t be bullied either. Speak up.

Time For A Change In Attitudes and Behavior

Texting behind the wheel is simply a bad habit. The messages are usually unimportant and certainly not worth risking your life over. Ending the texting habit takes discipline, but isn’t actually difficult. It merely takes the decision to stop, and sticking to it. If you are obsessed with checking your phone (common problem!), turn it off while you are driving until you have broken yourself of this deadly and dangerous habit. You don’t want to die just because you just couldn’t wait to say “hi” to a friend.

Always follow the rules of the road.

Good driving habits are learned, but require ongoing attention and discipline. Drivers who are too lazy to signal put others at risk. Speed limits must be followed, and rushing through the yellow light or coming to a rolling stop at a stop sign are all bad habits you can break. Do the right thing – follow the rules of the road and protect yourself and others.

Stay alert while driving.

You may be a careful and law-abiding driver, but unfortunately, you are surrounded by others who have all sorts of bad driving habits. Tailgaters, aggressive drivers, and daydreamers –  not to mention texters are all around you – even the drivers of large commercial trucks or oil field trucks. Defensive driving is now more important than ever. Watch out for drivers who are weaving in lanes, or who you observe texting. A dead giveaway is a driver who is either holding up a phone or staring into their lap or to the side while driving.

Report distracted drivers.

You can save a life by alerting police if you see at driver who is operating a car or other vehicle unsafely and it is obvious that he or she is texting or reading email, or busy doing some other task (eating, grooming, etc.) that poses a risk to others. If you see any driver who is texting or driving dangerously, rather than just avoiding that car, call the police. You could save a life. How would you feel if a few more miles down the road you saw the same vehicle and there were fatalities? It only takes one call.

Injured? Get a lawyer.

If you were injured by a distracted driver, get a lawyer as early as you can. If the other driver was busy texting, your attorney can get access to phone records. You may not be able to work because you are in pain or seriously injured. You need to make sure you get all of the compensation you are due. Your attorney does the heavy lifting while you take care of yourself and getting better. Call us at Larson Law if you were injured in North Dakota. We are friendly, smart and we get results for our clients. We would like to talk to you about what happened – call us.