Posted in Car Accident,In the News on May 25, 2013
The National Traffic Safety Administration is choosing a new strategy in its war against distracted driving. The agency is now promoting designated texters, whose job would be to help a motorist receive text messages while driving, with minimal distraction for motorists.
The concept of the designated motorist has been a part of the American lexicon for many years now. In fact, responsible motorists who have had a few drinks and do not have enough confidence in their ability to drive safely always designate a driver whose job it is to drop everyone home safely at the end of the evening.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has released a new campaign against distracted driving called Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks. The campaign promotes the concept of “designated texters. “ The NHTSA wants people to “borrow thumbs” from their friends when they want to text while they are driving. Passengers in your car can do your texting for you while you concentrate on the road.
The campaign is specifically geared at teenage drivers who are at the highest risk of texting while driving. The good news is that the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is reporting that the number of teenagers who are volunteering to be designated texters for friends and families is actually increasing. That’s good news because it shows that teenage motorists are developing a culture of awareness as far as the dangers of texting while driving are concerned.
A study conducted by State Farm and Harris Interactive also found that many teenagers are now speaking up when they see a motorist texting while driving. Approximately 70% of the teenagers in the survey said that they spoke up when they saw a person was texting while driving, and 84% of them reported that because of this, the motorist stopped texting.
