FIRST TAKE A main point that came out of the Distracted Driving Summit hosted by the U.S. Department
of Transportation in September was that teen drivers must receive comprehensive training on the dangers associated with cell phone usage while behind the wheel. After all, motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers with
Stopping Driver Distraction Starts with Educating Students
By Ryan Gray
about 5,000 killed and 300,000 injured every year. A study conducted earlier this year by the Allstate Foundation discovered that a whopping 82 percent of teens reported that they used cell phones while driving. Meanwhile, 49 percent reported texting as a distraction; in 2005, that figure was only about three in 10 teen drivers. Here’s another figure to chew on: driver error is the cause of nearly eight out of every 10 fatal
crashes involving teens. Te crash data is truly staggering. Just this month, we were reminded of not only the safety of school buses but that students continue to die and become injured while using other modes of school travel. School districts nationwide know full well that perhaps the biggest failure of school buses is
well out of their control. It’s the 16th birthday, when millions of teenagers across the country apply for and receive their driver’s licenses. We all remember the new-found freedom, the right of passage of being able to drive our-
selves to school, the store, to our friends’ houses, to “Blueberry Hill,” if you will. Not that we (or I) actually did, mind you, but it seemed that the very prospect of a driver’s license made all things possible. I recall how us kids from families that were too poor to afford another car looked up to our more fortunate classmates. But back then, the only “car phones,” as they were known at that time, were reserved for elite businesspersons and attorneys, and even in Orange County, Calif., they were few and far between. Fast forward to today, and stop the presses if you encounter a teen who doesn’t own or at
least borrow a cell phone, no matter their family’s socioeconomic status. For that reason, more and more schools are teaching their students about responsible, safe cell phone usage and the dangers of distracted driving. Tis is where transportation departments come back into the picture, as many of these operations also manage, coordinate or are otherwise involved in teen driver education programs. But that does not mean we should throw away common sense and miss the opportunity to
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educate pedestrians, especially students, on the perils of distracted walking, biking or skate- boarding. New York City, for example, has some of the highest rates of pedestrian injuries and fatalities each year. Te number one cause is motorists failing to yield to pedestrian right of way, and this problem can’t be lost on school districts, which see high percentages of their students walking to and from school. Look no further than the federal Safe Route to School Program as an entry point for schools to be stakeholders in ensuring all routes that kids take to school are as safe as possible.
Perhaps the biggest failure of school buses is well
out of their control. It’s the 16th birthday, when mil- lions of teenagers across the country apply for and receive their driver’s licenses. ❞
While pedestrian right of way needs to be preserved, society must also address how tech-
nology has changed streetscapes, not just behind the wheel but with respect to the large number of people who walk and talk on cell phones. Lest we forget, society is still muddling how this relatively new technology has altered our streetscapes. It’s a fact that holding cell phone conversations, verbally or via text, are distracting, period, regardless of what you’re doing. Schools need to take the leadership position of educating all of its students, young and old alike, on proper cell phone use, whether behind the wheel or not. Transportation depart- ments are shooting themselves in the foot if they don’t beg, borrow and steal to at least be a part of the discussion. n
12 School Transportation News Magazine January 2010
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