Tyler Bacon

An inspiring article about my roommate who has over-come so much in his life and has continued to be a living proof that anything is possible :) Please check it out

Tyler Bacon

Facts of Texting and Driving

FACT #1
Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When traveling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field. (2009, VTTI)

FACT #2
A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver. (2009, VTTI)

FACT #3
Of those killed in distracted-driving-related crashes, 995 involved reports of a cell phone as a distraction (18% of fatalities in distraction-related crashes). (2009, NHTSA)

FACT #4
Using a cell phone while driving, whether it's handheld or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (2009, University of Utah)

FACT #5
20 percent of injury crashes in 2009 involved reports of distracted driving. (2009, NHTSA)

FACT #6
In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. (2009, FARS and GES)

FACT #7
The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the under-20 age group. 16% of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (2009, NHTSA)

FACT #8
Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. (2005, Insurance Institute for Highway Safety)

FACT #9
49% of drivers with cell phones under the age of 35 send or read text messages while driving. (2011, Harris Poll)

FACT #10
60% of drivers use cell phones while driving. (2011, Harris Poll)

FACT #11
57% of drivers rate themselves as better than the average driver. (2011, Harris Poll)

FACT #12
An online survey of 1,999 teens ages 16-19 found that 86% had driven while distracted even though 84% know it's dangerous. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #13
34% of teens who drive while distracted simply say they're used to multi-tasking. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #14
32% of teens who drive while distracted don't think anything bad will happen to them. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #15
22% of teens who drive while distracted say it makes driving less boring. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #16
21% of teens who drive while distracted say they're used to being connected to people all the time. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #17
35% of teens who drive while distracted don't think they'll get hurt. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #18
20% of teens who share vehicles had texted while driving, compared to 35% who own their own cars. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #19
23 is the average number of texts per month that teens who text and drive admit to sending. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

FACT #20
77% of young adult drivers are very/somewhat confident that they can safely text while driving. (Ad Council, 2011)

FACT #21
55% of young adult drivers agree that it's easy to text and pay attention to driving at the same time. (Ad Council, 2011)

FACT #22
85% of respondents who text while driving agree that texting while driving is a problem and 89% recognize that the behavior reduces reaction time. (Ad Council, 2011)

FACT #23
Brain power used while driving decreases by 40% when a driver listens to conversation or music. (2008, Center for Cognitive Brain Imaging at Carnegie Mellon University Study)FACT #24
49% of adults say they have been passengers in a car when the driver was sending or reading text messages on their cell phone. (2010, Pew Research Center)

FACT #25
44% of adults say they have been passengers of drivers who used the cell phone in a way that put themselves or others in danger. (2010, Pew Research Center)

FACT #26
36% of teens say they have been involved in a near-crash because of their own or someone else's distracted driving. (2010, Pew Research Center)

FACT #27
While over 90% of teen drivers say they don't drink and drive, 9 out of 10 say they've seen passengers distracting the driver, or drivers using cell phones. (2006, National Teen Driver Survey)

FACT #28
Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped, but teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged because distracted driving is on the rise. (2007, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Study and NHTSA Study)

FACT #29
About half of drivers 16 to 24 said they had texted while driving, compared with 22 percent of drivers 35 to 44. (2009, AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety)

FACT #30
In a study over 18 months, college students using a sophisticated driving simulator showed an eight times greater crash risk when texting than when not texting. (2009, University of Utah Study)

New Public Service Advertisements Aim to Educate Young Adults on the Dangers of Texting While Driving

Eighty‐two percent of young adult drivers (16‐24) have read a standard text message while driving,
according to a national survey conducted by the Ad Council. People feel pressure to remain in constant
contact, even when behind the wheel. What drivers do not realize are the dangers posed when they
take their eyes off the road and their hands off the wheel and focus on activities other than driving.
On October 27th, the State Attorneys General and Consumer Protection agencies, National Highway
Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and the Ad Council launched a Texting and Driving Prevention
public service advertising (PSA) campaign aimed at young adults to discourage them from texting while
driving and educate young people about this dangerous behavior. The PSAs communicate to teens and
adults that when you text and drive, you are not multitasking, but essentially driving blind. By taking
your eyes off the road, even for a few seconds, you are making the road less safe for you, your
passengers and other drivers. All of the new TV, radio, outdoor and digital PSAs drive the audience to
the campaign website, StopTextsStopWrecks.org, where teens and young adults can find tips and tactics
for how to curb their behavior. Additionally, to extend the campaign messages online, new Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube social media channels were established.

The PSAs educate young drivers about the dangers of texting and driving and encourage them to put an
end to distracted driving by issuing the call to action, “How will you stop texting and driving?” The
campaign website provides tips and best practices for young adults to keep from texting and driving and
solicits tips and stories from teens that have been affected by this issue.
To learn more about the campaign and get the facts, visit StopTextsStopWrecks.org.



For more information on the PSA campaign visit www.StopTextsStopWrecks.org