Controversial Commercial Targets Teens
April happens to be National Distracted Driving Awareness month, and you may have seen a powerful new commercial kicking it off. The spot is the Department of Transportation’s first ever national advertising campaign. It’s garnered attention from news outlets because of its graphic crash sequence.
Pulling no punches
The commercial starts off with what appears to be an average group of youngsters driving along but quickly turns graphic as the young driver takes her eyes off the road and misses a stop sign. If you missed the commercial on TV, you can watch it on the DoT’s and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s joint site, distraction.gov.
The message of the commercial? All it takes is a momentary distraction while driving to cause fatal results.
Distraction takes various forms
You can become a distracted driver three ways:
- Visually – Taking your eyes off the road
- Manually – Taking your hands off the wheel
- Cognitively – Taking your mind off driving
To avoid distracted driving, take a few common sense steps:
- Put the cell phone down – should go without saying.
- Don’t eat in the car – when you reach for one French fry, you’ll go back for another resulting in distraction.
- Wear sunglasses – sun in your eyes can take them off the road.
- If you drop something, leave it – don’t bend over and fumble around your car for something that should wait.
If your car meets with a distraction, let Great Plains Auto Body help. 402.334.7100
