Whether it’s replying to a text message or reaching down to grab the food you just purchased at your favorite drive-thru, it’s easy for new drivers to get distracted.
In fact, the average amount of time eyes are spent off the road to send a text is five seconds, according to Go Safely California, a campaign aimed at being a helpful resource for California drivers.
It may not seem like many seconds, but that’s all it takes for an accident to take place.
California Highway Patrol’s latest partnership aims to tackle distracted driving, fixating mainly on the 750,000 teenage drivers.
Introducing the Teen Distracted Drivers campaign – a grant funded operation that allows CHP officers to go to schools and events across the state and educate teenage drivers on the importance of keeping all eyes on the road.
“The combination of inattention and inexperience behind the wheel can lead to tragedy,” CHP Commissioner Amanda Ray said. “This grant will assist our officers in keeping California’s roads safe, while addressing California’s distracted driving crisis among the state’s teens.”
According to CHP’s Statewide Integrated Traffic Records System, there were almost 44,000 crashes where a teen driver was involved. Of those crashes, over 230 were deadly. In 2020, officials said the number of fatal crashes involving teenage drivers increased to almost 260.
Statistics from Go Safely California also found that almost 60% of drivers in 2019 said they were hit by a driver who was sending a text or talking on the phone.
In that same year, it was reported 10 percent of drivers under 20-years-old who were involved in deadly crashed were distracted at the time of the collision.
Funding for the grant derives from the California Office of Traffic Safety and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The grant began Oct. 1 and will continue through Sept. 30, 2022.
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