CarcrashesarethetopkillerofAmericanteenagers.Mostofthecrashesresultfromdistracteddriving-notpayingattentiontotheroad.RyanDidonewasafifteen-year-oldpassengerinacarthathitatree.Hewasoneofthenation'smorethan
CarcrashesarethetopkillerofAmericanteenagers.Mostofthecrashesresultfromdistracteddriving-notpayingattentiontotheroad.
RyanDidonewasafifteen-year-oldpassengerinacarthathitatree.Hewasoneofthenation'smorethanthirtythousandvictimsoftrafficcrashesin2008.Nearlyfourthousanddeaths,abouttwelvepercentinvolveddriversagefifteentotwenty.
Ryan'sfather,ThomasDidone,isapolicecaptaininMaryland."Itwasaninexperienced,immaturedriverdrivingatnightwithacarloadofkids.Hewasdistracted,hewasgoingtoofast,anditendedupcausingonedeathandsomeseriouslyinjured."Hesharesthestoryofhisson'sdeathtohelpeducateteensandtheirfamiliesaboutdistracteddriving.
JimJenningsfromtheAllstateInsuranceCompanysaysthenumberonecauseofdistracted-drivingaccidentsisthemobilephone.Hesaystalkingonthephoneorreachingforitislikedrinkingfourbeersanddriving."Ifyou'retextingwhiledriving,youaretwenty-threetimesmorelikelytogetintoanaccidentthansomebodywhoisn't."
Governmentandprivategroupsareusingpublicserviceannouncementsandeventstobringmoreattentiontotheproblem.Forexample,theinsuranceindustryrecentlyheldasafetyeventforteendrivers.Atfirst,nineteen-year-oldKevinSchumanneasilyavoidedlarge,inflatabledollsthrowninfrontofthecartorepresentchildren.Healsoavoidedorangeconesrepresentingtheedgeoftheroad.Then,aspartofthetest,hestartedtexting.Hehitseveralconesandatleastonedoll."That'swhatreallyopeneduptheexperienceformetoprovehowbaditistoreallytextanddrive."
DebbiePickfordofAllstateInsurancesaysteensareespeciallyatriskfromdistracteddriving-andnotjustbecausetheylackexperienceontheroads."Accordingtotheresearch,teensdon'treallyhavefullydevelopedbrainsuntilthey'retwenty-fiveyearsold.Youputthosetwothingstogetherandyougetamuch,muchhigherrisk."
Anewlawproposesagraduateddriverlicensingsystem.Graduatedmeansteenagersstartwithrestrictionslikeonnightdrivingandnumbersofpassengers.Theycouldnotgetafulldriver'slicenseuntilageeighteen.
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