April: Distracted Driver Awareness Month

April 3, 2015

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and the first week of April is California Teen Safe Driving Week.

To help save lives and educate the public, including young drivers, about the dangers of distracted driving, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) has planned a number of activities. They are kicking off their second national highly visible enforcement campaign for distracted driving: U Drive. U Text. U Pay., which will be supported by English- and Spanish-language television, radio, and digital advertising. NHTSA has also developed a robust social media strategy designed to raise public awareness about the consequences of texting and driving. NHTSA provides helpful resources that organizations can use to educate their constituents about the campaign, including key messages, sample social media posts, and sample YouTube videos. Additional resources from NHTSA are available here and here.

Young, inexperienced drivers, under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes. In California, the first week in April is designated as California Teen Safe Driving Week. Impact Teen Drivers provides a number of helpful resources on its website.

“No text, call or social media update is worth a crash,” Rhonda Craft, director of the California Office of Traffic Safety, said in a statement. “With an average of less than a second to react to an urgent situation, drivers need to have all their attention on the roadway.”