Prosecutor asks parents to warn kids about dangers of texting and driving

GUEST EDITORIAL

EPHRATA - So here is the good news, alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped, and the DUI conviction rate in Grant County is exceeding the state average.

But here is the bad news; despite the drop in alcohol-related accidents for teens, the teenage traffic fatality rates have remained unchanged because distracted driving is on the rise.

The statistics on teen distracted driving are troubling. A recent online survey of 1,999 teens ages 16-19 found that 86 percent had driven while distracted even though 84 percent know it's dangerous. And according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association, 16 percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. Another telling statistic shows that 36 percent of teens say they have been involved in a near-crash because of their own or someone else's distracted driving.

Although there are many ways for a young driver to become distracted, texting is one of the most dangerous and most common. Two recent studies from the University of Utah, and the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, found that a texting driver has a significantly greater likelihood of crashing than a driver who is not texting.

One of the reasons that texting is so dangerous is because text messaging requires visual, manual, and cognitive attention from the driver all at the same time. When considering that five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting, if you are traveling at 55 mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field without being able to react to an unforeseen situation. That is a serious distraction.

So what is a parent to do you might ask? How do parents ensure that their children are not endangering themselves or others when they are driving a car?

The first step is to talk to your kid about the dangers of distracted driving. Discuss what it means to be a safe driver with your teen and set ground rules for when they're behind the wheel. If your teen is on the road, they should stay off the phone.

Next, get on the Internet and go to www.stoptextsstopwrecks.org and show your kid a few of the videos they have posted that show the dangers of distracted driving. The videos are informative and gripping. It will give them something to think about before they pick up the phone while driving.

Next, if they have a smart phone, install a safe driving app. There are now many free smart phone apps out there that once installed will stop your child's phone from sending or receiving a text while in a vehicle moving over a certain speed. You can even set up the app to send you an email if your child tries to disable the application. I use the free "textsmart" app myself.

Distracted driving collisions can happen any time. Talk to your kids today, before they head out on the road with a phone.