We've got a full slate for our upcoming Distracted Driving Summit. From researchers to advocates to safety organizations, we are coming at this issue from all possible angles.
And one approach that has been much on my mind is America's teens. Today's edition of USA Today cites a Seventeen Magazine / AAA survey indicating that 9 out of 10 teens "continue to drive distracted even when they recognize the dangers of doing so."
That's why DOT is teaming up with Seventeen and AAA on a new Video Challenge.
We're asking young people across America to shoot their own PSAs against distracted driving and post them on YouTube by September 10. Then tell your friends about it. The best video will win a $2,000 prize and be featured on Seventeen.com, AAAExchange.com, Distraction.gov and at our Distracted Driving Summit on September 21.
Please visit www.seventeen.com/twosecond to see the complete rules.
Now, I know the average reader of this blog is not a teenager. So I'm asking readers to go out and tell your kids and your friends' kids about the challenge. Share it with your neighborhood listserv and PTA newsgroup. Talk it up with the young people at your local pool or ballfield.
Yes, it's a challenge to young people, but you can do your part to make it happen!
Now, Seventeen Magazine Editor-in-Chief Ann Shoket has been a great partner in our campaign against distracted driving. At last year's summit, she chaired our youth panel. And this year, Seventeen is launching the National Two-Second Turnoff Day.
According to the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, taking your eyes off the road for only two seconds doubles your crash risk. But it also takes only two seconds to turn off the phone before getting behind the wheel. So, on September 17, Seventeen is urging people across the country to take the necessary two-seconds to shut those devices off before driving.
And if you think this is not an important issue for the health and well-being of our nation's kids, please take a look at the video below from WUSA Channel 9, here in Washington.
There's a reason I'm on a rampage about this. There's a reason we're holding our second National Distracted Driving Summit. There's a reason we're asking people to take the two seconds to turn off their devices. And there's a reason we're reaching out to America's youth to help spread the word.
We're trying to save lives.
Secretary Lahood,
Please help us in Louisville! The Ohio River Bridges Project does not conform to any of the guidelines you have set up for modern transit in America. Our city leaders are not listening to the people and are instead appointing non-elected officials that meet behind closed doors to make decisions on our behalf. There is nothing about mass transit in the project, it costs a whopping 4.2 billions dollars, much of which will be paid for by the Federal government and tolls they want to set up on bridges we have already paid for. Numerous groups and bloggers around the country have taken note of the mistake being made here in Louisville, KY. Please lend us your support in helping our leaders see what a drastic mistake this project will be! Additionally, cheaper and more effective alternatives have been proposed such as 8664.org . Please help!
Posted by: William | August 02, 2010 at 03:32 PM
What a crock. When you consider adjusting the radio a distraction it is easy to tout the 9 out of 10 number. Then you scream about the distracted epidemic that affects 9 in 10 teens to try to make it easier for localities to pass intrusive laws and line coffers by writing tickets to responsible adults. Haven't you guys done this already with red light running only to prove that it was the money not the safety you were after? Lets give it a rest. Highways are safer now than ever despite new distracting technology.
Posted by: Spencer | August 02, 2010 at 06:02 PM
I have a similar problem. The tolls here in the state of Illinois and most of the "Rust Belt" were to be short-lived and temporary fixes to transit expansions. There are places we still need to expand, and no one is denying that case. If the tolls time has passed though, isn't it then the responsibility of the Federal DOT to regulate the states into following their original mandates. They are harvesting money on Interstates. Aren't interstates by nature governed by Interstate Commerce?
Posted by: Christian | August 03, 2010 at 02:50 AM
Its great to get teenagers interested and concerned about getting the message out on distracted driving and to try to get them to heed the message. But major public works projects like bridges and highways being planned and under construction also need transperancy to the public. Public transportation and infrastructure development cannot exist in a vaccume where the public is excluded from knowing what is going on and not able to comment on what is going on. Best wishes, Michael E. Bailey.
Posted by: Michael E. Bailey | August 08, 2010 at 02:51 AM