Make the Pledge

The start of a New Year means new beginnings and new resolutions. The most common New Year’s resolutions involve fitness, health, career paths, helping others, and travel, but when you’re a parent, some of your resolutions might relate more to your children than to yourself. If you’re a parent of young teenage drivers, we have a unique resolution to suggest for you: This New Year, take a step away from the safe driving lectures, and embark on a New Year’s resolution with all of the drivers in your family, by resolving to NEVER text and drive!

The holidays are a popular time of year to buy cars, and if you’re the parent of young teenage drivers, it may also be a time of high anxiety! Help eradicate some of that anxiety by making a pledge with your teens to always stay focused on the road.

Why is texting and driving such a big deal?

Distracted driving kills thousands of people every year, leaving hundreds of thousands injured. A startling percentage of teenage accidents and fatalities are at the hands of a distracted driver, but what might come as more surprising (and terrifying!) is that, according to one study, 1 in 5 drivers of ALL ages have admitted to surfing the web…while driving! (Yes, texting while sitting at stop signs and red lights still counts as distracted driving!)

http://www.distraction.gov/content/get-the-facts/facts-and-statistics.html

http://www.textinganddrivingsafety.com/texting-and-driving-stats/

You can create your own pledge or join a national one, like the It Can Wait campaign. Whatever you do, make sure that your teens understand the dangers of distracted driving, by first understanding and making the pledge yourself!