Boston Car Accident Lawyer Blog
It has become very clear that distracted driving is a major public health issue, especially among teens. Unfortunately, many teens continue to text as they drive. In fact, one recent study conducted by Toyota and University of Michigan found that teens were 26 times as likely to text when driving as their parents believed is the case. Distraction.gov also cautioned that 40 percent of surveyed teens said they’d been driving with a person using his or her cell in a risky way.
With so many teenagers engaging in dangerous distracted driving behavior, our Boston injury lawyers believe it is very important for teens to be educated about the real-world consequences of their choice. One father agrees and has launched an initiative to teach thousands of high school students about the very real dangers that distracted driving presents.
Father Warns Massachusetts’ Teens about Distracted Driving
On February 5, 2013, The Daily Times wrote an article about a Delaware-area father who had launched a distracted driving campaign. He began his efforts after his 21-year-old daughter was killed in a distracted driving crash as she was walking to work in 2009.
Following his daughter’s death, he developed a comprehensive presentation about distracted driving, which focuses not only on cell phones but on other in-vehicle distractions as well. Because cell phones are responsible for causing about 1/3 of distracted driving crashes, as the father told the Daily Times, he wants young people to realize that other behaviors are just as dangerous.
The father’s presentation has been shown to around 7,5000 students since April and has reached students in ten different states. The presentation can also be given by other trained individuals and there are hopes that 200,000 students will be reached by June.
Recently, a new video has been added to the presentation that is likely to make a powerful impact. The video features residents from Massachusetts including one heartbreaking story of a crash within the state that led to a death. The video is unique because it includes interviews from both the family of the person who was killed and from the driver who had caused the death. It was made when the driver who caused the accident contacted the family of the victim to apologize and was urged to do something to make a difference.
Because the video features Massachusetts’ residents and is about an accident in the state, it will premiere in Massachusetts. According to the February 5 Daily Times Article, the grieving father had visited the Massachusetts’ State House on Monday to give his distracted driving presentation and to show the new video.
The video will now reach students in Massachusetts and throughout the rest of the United States. Boston teenagers who watch fellow residents speak of their sadness and grief at the devastating consequences of a distracted driving accident will hopefully make smart choices in the future and refrain from driving when focused on anything other than the road.
If you or a loved one has been injured in an accident in the Greater Boston area, contact the car accident attorneys at Jeffrey Glassman Injury Lawyers, LLC for a free consultation. Call (617) 777-7777.