| Mar 23 |
Houston school kids fight distracted driving — and are noted by U.S. Transportation SecretaryLongfellow Elementary School students Kaitlynn Sanders, Nautica Winkfield (seated) and Helena Marlowe. How important is it to stop the deaths and devastation caused by distracted driving? Not enough to compel many state governments — including Texas’ — to do the right thing. And not enough for cell phone companies to set their greed aside and quit fighting safety measures. But distracted driving dangers have been important enough to spur action by a group of Houston school kids, who seem more wise than many adults. They’re students at Longfellow Elementary School, and what they’ve done is so noteworthy that Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood has written about it in his personal blog, which has a photo of the students. In today’s Fast Lane: The Official Blog of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, LaHood commends the Houston kids for taking “public education into their own hands.” “Budget problems prevented the City of Houston from posting signs near Longfellow alerting drivers to the dangers of texting and cell phone use while driving in a school zone,” LaHood wrote. “So safety-minded students, parents and area residents joined together to create and post their own signs.” LaHood’s blog also links to “Neighbors Taking Charge,” an item by the Bellaire Examiner noting efforts by the Longfellow PTA and neighboring Woodside Civic Club to make a bad situation better. |
| Aug 26 |
Sue Sylvester — Jane Lynch — of ‘Glee’ to coach parents on teaching kids about distracted driving
Lynch will appear in webisodes for the campaign on driving while distracted, and she also will be a member of its council. The effort is sponsored by LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company, a division of South Korea’s LG Electronics. |
Emmy-nominated actress Jane Lynch, who plays fiery cheerleader coach Sue Sylvester on hit Fox TV show | Mar 12 |
Car accident deaths down, despite rise in distracted driving fatalities
But imagine how much better it could be without the onslaught of cell phone addiction. Millions of Americans drive with one hand on the wheel — at best — while calling and texting with the other. And when only a moment’s inattention can cause a lifetime of misery, these driving distractions are among the biggest threats on our roads today. |
Driving deaths overall are down in America, but could be much lower without one thing: distracted drivers who call or text at the wheel. A new report by the U.S. Department of Transportation reveals the United States had 33,963 traffic fatalities in 2009, a drop of 8.9 per cent from 2008. With driving deaths declining for 15 consecutive quarters, this also was the lowest level since 1954.| Jan 25 |
As car crash accidents rise, more states ban distracted driving via texting, talking by cell phone
Why? Because distracted driving kills. It’s that simple. The U.S. Department of Transportation reports that 515,000 persons were injured and 5,870 persons died in traffic accidents in 2008 due to distracted drivers. That’s 16 per cent of all U.S. traffic deaths — enough to help spark creation of FocusDriven, a national non-profit group dedicated to fighting distracted driving. |
Jim S. Adler & Associates has campaigned for years against the | Jan 06 |
Talking, texting, distracted driving in Texas school zones is illegal — sometimes
But does this law truly protect kids? Not exactly. That’s because individual school districts still must pay for signs to be posted in school zones to warn drivers that such behavior is illegal. And if they don’t, the law doesn’t apply. |
With 19 states and the District of Columbia now making it illegal to text while driving, you wonder when Texas will wise up. So far, only municipalities have passed such laws, the biggest being | Sep 28 |
Parents can help teens tackle driving distractions, reduce car accidents
Conducted by Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, PA and given funding by State Farm Insurance Co., the studies show that parents who set specific driving boundaries and urge caution in their kids are a lot more likely to have kids who survive into adulthood. (more…) |
With a national summit on distracted drivers set for this week, studies due today from the journal Pediatrics show that parents can have a huge effect on how effective — or distracted — their teen drivers become.| Sep 01 |
Car accident insurer’s study shows 4 in 5 favor ban on texting while driving
Now a new study shows that every other state could fall in line — provided its legislators listen to the voters who elected them, and not cell phone lobbyists. In a national survey held last month by Nationwide Insurance, 80 per cent of adult Americans favored a legal ban on texting while driving. Even more encouraging is that two-thirds of respondents favor laws restricting cell phone calls while driving, with 57 per cent even including hands-free phones in such proposals. A Nationwide official called this a “groundswell of momentum on banning texting” while driving. So far, 17 states and the District of Columbia have such laws. |
The “hang up and drive” movement is gaining momentum. With distracted drivers killing and injuring thousands, the feds are holding a summit on the issue this month, and Illinois has joined the ranks of states which ban texting while driving.| Aug 25 |
New Texas law banning school zone cell phones still has car accident hangups
That end is safe driving without using a cell phone or PDA to text, dial, redial, read texts, send texts, talk endlessly or otherwise take your mind and eyes away from the road while you act like a doctor who’s on call 24/7. Would you try passing a driver’s license test while diverted this way? No, and for good reason. You could kill yourself or someone else. Haven’t done so yet? As they say, always a first time. Starting Sept. 1, a new Texas law drives that message home, making it illegal to use a cell phone — except for a hands-free device — while driving in school zones where such signs are posted. Those signs, sadly, are the rub — more on that later. |
In today’s world of searing rhetoric and bombastic bumper stickers, you might hear or see two conflicting slogans: “Hang up and drive” and “You’ll take my cell phone when you pry it from my cold dead fingers.” Yet when the dust has cleared from a horrendous