New effort fights distracted driving from the passenger seat (Youth Today)
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National road safety advocates are trying to drive down the number of crashes caused by distracted driving by encouraging passengers, particularly teens, to speak up instead of sitting silent in unsafe conditions.
It’s a new tactic in an ongoing campaign against a national problem. Car crashes remain the leading cause of accidental injury deaths for teens in the U.S., according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Progress is being made — the number of people dying in crashes involving at least one young driver dropped 5% in 2022 to 5,339, according to the National Safety Council, but the death rate remains much higher than for drivers 20 and over.
Safety advocates are working to broaden awareness of passenger empowerment, particularly among teenagers who often are more at risk because they regularly ride in cars with teen drivers. Raising awareness, advocates argue, empowers teens to become more comfortable speaking up from the passenger seat to help save lives, including their own.
The new focus on passenger empowerment grows out of longstanding evidence showing that simply having a passenger in the car with a teen driver increases the probability of a crash. The risk of death per mile driven doubles with two young passengers and increases when new passengers are added, according to the AAA Foundation.
In a poll conducted by Youthcast Media Group of 134 high school students across the U.S., about 77% said they had been a passenger while the driver texted or checked their phone or social media while driving. Seventy percent said they’d been in a car where other passengers were causing distractions.
If those passengers speak up and help the driver focus, rather than causing distraction, advocacy groups like the National Road Safety Foundation say they’ll keep everyone safer. The safety week is just one part of a larger National Passenger Safety Campaign, a joint effort with We Save Lives, an Alexandria, Va.-based nonprofit focused on changing “dangerous driving choices” and saving lives by “promoting realistic solutions.”
Teens who have begun joining the larger effort say the focus on empowering passengers is important.
“Ultimately, the decision is not based upon you,’’ said Sydney Montgomery, a high school student from Georgia who is a member of the peer safety program, Teens in the Driver Seat. “It’s a decision that’s around everyone because if you do let that situation happen, you’re not only impacting you, but everyone that’s around you. So if you let that go through, you could risk anyone’s life that’s around you.”
One of the more passionate and vocal advocates of the burgeoning movement is We Save Lives founder Candace Lightner, who also founded Mothers Against Drunk Driving, a nonprofit widely credited with changing laws against drunk driving and saving hundreds of thousands of lives as a result.
Once again, Lightner wants to help spark change, this time by urging youth and their parents to think more critically about their roles in disrupting unsafe driving. Parents can insist their teens become more aware of the dangers of riding in cars with people, particularly teens who engage in habits such as texting while driving, she says.
