Kristy Rigby, Program manager with the Utah Highway Safety Office and chair of the Utah Teen Traffic Safety Task Force shows how critical reaction times can be for texting teens on Studio 5
The overall Zero Fatalities campaign, focuses on avoiding the following five deadly behaviors while driving:
o Drowsy Driving
o Distracted Driving
o Aggressive Driving
o Impaired Driving
o Not Buckling Up
Zero Fatalities’ sister campaign on Studio 5 today sheds light on “Don’t Drive Stupid”
INFORMATION ON TEENS AND DRIVING DISTRACTIONS:
Utah teen drivers are a small percent of all licensed drivers, but they cause more than three times as many crashes as the average driver.
• A 16- or 17-year-old driver may not operate a motor vehicle in Utah with any passenger who is not an immediate family member until six months from the date the person’s driver license was issued.
• Around 90 percent of teen crashes happen the first months teens have a driver license. Of those killed, a little more than half are the drivers and the rest are passengers.
• A driver traveling 65 miles per hour covers the length of a football field in the same time it takes to check a text message.
• It is against the law to drive with friends in the car, unless they are related, for the first six months of having been issued a driver license.
• Crashes where the teen-driven vehicle contains four or more occupants are five times as likely to be fatal crashes, compared to crashes with teen-driven vehicles with fewer occupants.
The best way to survive a crash is to prevent it from happening in the first place. Don’t eat, read, drink, change a CD, apply makeup, yell out the window, or reach into the backseat while driving, and of course bag the phone – don’t text or talk while driving. These crashes are avoidable and not inevitable.
More information regarding Don’t Drive Stupid can be found by visiting: www.dontdrivestupid.com.
Zero Fatalities would love to team with you by bringing the “Don’t Drive Stupid” program to your school. For more information contact your local health department for a “Teen Driving Survival Kit” and or contact@ZeroFatalities.com
Recent national studies show that teen drivers are four times more likely to be involved in a distraction-related collision than any other age group and that drivers under the age of 20 are most susceptible to driving distractions.
The drivers’ license division has updated their website, which includes a practice test and all the details about learners permits and the GDL system. To learn more go to www.driverlicense.utah.gov
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