y now, it is impossible to get behind the wheel of a car and not be aware of the dangers of cell phone use. And it’s not just texting, it’s eating, putting on make-up, or just thinking about something other than driving. The risks of distracted driving are real and well-known. Still, every day, countless drivers, par- ticularly teenagers and young adults, continue to put their lives – and the lives of others – at risk because their hands aren’t always on the wheel or their minds aren’t on the road. According to the National
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Highway Traffic Safety Administra- tion, nearly 1,000 people died in cell phone-related crashes in the United States in 2009 alone. That should be enough of a deterrent, but it is not. A recent AAA/Seventeen magazine study found that 86 percent of teens ages 16-19 still engage in distracted driving behavior despite being aware of the dangers.
Connecticut and other states have imposed texting bans, but many safety advocates and industry experts argue that tickets and fines alone will not make the problem go away. “Tough laws are important, but they are not enough to create change,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group. “In- experienced drivers need further education and ongoing reinforce- ment about how to stay safe on the road. That’s our goal. Education is the key and Distractology 101 can help.” “Distractology 101” is a program sponsored by the Arbella Insurance Group Charitable Foundation in partnership with re-
18 Natural Nutmeg
searchers at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. It features a 36-foot-long neon-yellow mobile classroom, outfitted with state-of-the-art high-tech driving simulators that give new drivers (usually teens) a real-life look at the potentially disastrous effects of distracted driving. The driving simulator tour has been travel- ling to select communities throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island since early 2010, but with the help of Bearingstar Insurance, arrived in Connecticut for the first time this year. “We are living in a world where people think it’s acceptable to drive around with cell phones in their ears and texts flying,” said Rich Toce, cus- tomer service manager for Bearingstar Insurance, which sponsored tour visits to Fairfield and Farmington this past spring.
As part of the Distractology 101
training, teens and other new drivers get behind the wheel of the driv- ing simulator to see firsthand how distraction can make the difference between being safe and being a
statistic. The students face a number of scenarios based on real- world examples that illustrate the dangers of distracted driving and teach participants how to anticipate hidden hazards, react to the road and avoid accidents. The program even has its own vo- cabulary, with buzzwords like “textident” (an accident caused by texting), “snackcident” (juggling drinks and food while driving) and “gabcident”(driving while talking on the phone). During the simulation, which looks similar to an arcade game, Distractology 101 instructor Topher Paone interacts with drivers,
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