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(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 21, 2011 ) YONKERS, NY- Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, said during a press conference that he dreaded the day when each of his four children turned 16 because automobile accidents are the leading cause of teen deaths.
Approximately 5,500 people in the United States were killed in distracted driving accidents in 2009. According to a poll that LaHood released, 63 percent of drivers under 30 admitted to using a handheld phone while driving. Most alarmingly, LaHood said, 30 percent acknowledged that they have sent text messages while driving.
He came to Yonkers, N.Y., headquarters of Consumer Reports magazine, to announce a partnership aimed at getting teens and other young adults to realize that the best (and safest) way to get home is to hang up the phone and stop sending text messages.
The partnership will create an advocacy campaign with posters, commercials and fliers that explains six steps parents can take, including setting a good example and setting ground rules. Videos will be played in retail stores like Wal-Mart and could be seen by as many as 100 million people.
Another video on the Transportation Department's website features Miss South Dakota Loren Vaillancourt, whose brother was killed in a distracted-driving car crash. On the video she says that because someone made a mistake, she is now an only child. Vaillancourt was at LaHood's news conference.
Jacy Good, 24, said she lost both of her parents and was severely injured in a distracted driving road accident on her college graduation day in 2008. Ever since, she has been campaigning for a law against phone use while driving in Pennsylvania, where she lives.
She said that even in New York, where there is a law against cell phone use while driving, everyone still talks on cell phones while driving, so there is some built-in frustration.
LaHood said he has met with every CEO of every major car manufacturing company about whether new features in cars could contribute to distracted driving, but they said they don't yet have any good data on the subject.
Consumer Reports, better known for testing the safety of autos themselves, became interested in the distracted driving issue because it is a crucial auto safety concern that needs attention, said Jim Guest, president of Consumer Union, which publishes the magazine.
Guest said that the most alarming statistic of the poll is that only 30 percent of those under 30 felt it was unsafe to use a handheld device while driving. According to Donato Vaccaro, associate director of Survey Research for Consumer Reports, younger drivers were less likely to see the behavior as dangerous.
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