ALBANY – Distracted driving is responsible for more than 5,000 deaths and close to 450,000 injuries in the U.S. every year. Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted. Drivers who use handheld devices are 4 times more likely to get into an injury-producing car accident.
These are just a few of the startling and tragic statistics that result from distracted driving.
As part of April’s National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, Albany and Corvallis, Oregon attorneys Dan Rayfield and Jim Nelson of Nelson and MacNeil will join more than 750 attorneys from all 50 states and across Canada to present a unified awareness and education message during April. Later this month Rayfield and Nelson will give several 60-minute presentations at Sweet Home High School and Lebanon High School to increase awareness among the students.
“Texting takes your eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds. This is the same as driving the length of a football field at 55 mph,” Rayfield said.
The 60-minute presentation – in conjunction with, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, EndDD.org, and 60 for Safety’s End Distracted Driving Student Awareness Campaign – will offer high school teens an educating, yet sobering glimpse into the tragic results that can occur when driving distracted.
“As attorneys, we regularly see the cost to families and the community when people don’t follow these simple safety rules. It is our hope, that through awareness, we can increase safety in our community,” Rayfield said.
For more information you can visit the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s Web site www.distraction.gov. Rayfield and Nelson are available to present this topic to various schools or groups throughout April and May. You can contact them at 541-928-9147.