Take action against. distractions. distractions. Information and resource kit. Ministry of Transp ortation

Transcription

1 Take action against distractions distractions Information and resource kit Ministry of Transp ortation

2 Motor vehicle collisions are the #1 killer of young people in Ontario. The majority of these tragedies are totally preventable. This guide will help you raise awareness and encourage your friends and loved ones to take action against distractions. 1 information so what s it all about 2 stats who doesn t like statistics 3 interactive games illustrating the point in a fun way 4 resources should you need more 2

3 What s with Distracted Driving Many drivers tend to view driving, especially in familiar environments, as a simple everyday task that requires minimal attention. But collisions often occur when unexpected situations happen in familiar environments. Distracted driving is engaging in any activity other than driving while operating a motor vehicle. Potential distractions include: Distractions can Using handheld devices come from almost selecting music anything that makes talking to passengers you look away from using GPS the road, move in reading maps, ads, etc. your seat, or think fixing hair, putting on make-up or jewellery about things other eating or drinking than driving. making lists tending to children or pets staring at pedestrians, collisions, etc. daydreaming or thinking about something stressful reaching for items in bag, glove box, pockets or from behind seats Driving is a complex task that involves: Operating a heavy piece of machinery at high speeds Navigating across changing terrain Calculating speeds and distances Responding to other drivers, signs, signals and obstacles around you At 60 km/hr a car travels 50 metres half a football field in just 3 seconds. 3

4 Good drivers need to quickly: Scan for and detect hazards Process the need to respond Decide on an action Act to avoid the crash The 3 main types of distraction: Visual taking your eyes off the road Manual taking your hands off the wheel Cognitive taking your mind off driving Distractions slow your reaction time, which means it will take you longer to recognize potential hazards and longer to react. Being distracted can also cause you to: Straddle lanes Fail to recognize traffic lights, signs, pedestrians, cyclists or debris on the road Speed up or slow down A recent study shows that when drivers take their eyes off the road for more than 2 seconds their crash risk doubles. 4

5 Here s the law In Ontario, It is illegal for drivers to talk, text, type, dial, or using hand-held cell phones and other hand-held communications and entertainment devices. All drivers may use hand-held devices to call If you need to use your cell phone in an emergency a situation that could result in a danger to your safety or the safety of others if it is not corrected without delay consider the following tips: Pull over safely if conditions allow. Keep emergency calls as brief as possible. Alert the caller that you are on the road. End conversations immediately if driving conditions or situations become hazardous (for example, bad weather, roadway construction, high-speed or high-volume traffic). Be alert to situations on the road where a cell phone's radio frequency and electronics may be potentially harmful such as: construction zones where blasting is occurring, or at gas stations/fuelling areas. Drivers who endanger others because of any distraction may also be charged with careless driving and on conviction, will automatically receive six demerit points, fines of up to $2,000 and/or a jail term of six months. In some cases, your licence may be suspended for up to two years. You may even be charged with dangerous driving (a criminal offence). A driver who uses a cell phone is 4 times more likely to be in a crash than drivers who are focused on the road. 5

6 How to take Action against Distraction Turn your phone off when driving. Avoid the temptation to talk or text on your phone; simply turn it off while you are driving. Texting and driving don t mix. There is no way to safely drive while texting. And it s illegal. Texting that begins at a stoplight often carries over to when traffic is moving again. Even if you are proficient enough that you don t take your eyes off the road, your mind is off the road, and your hands are off the wheel. JUST DON T DO IT! Keep a safe following distance. Leaving plenty of space between you and the vehicle in front of you increases visibility and gives more time to react to what s happening in front of you, reducing risk to you and your passengers. Clear your mind. You cannot focus on driving if your mind is on school or family pressure, or your todo list. Take a moment before you drive to clear your mind. Have a plan. Don t wait until you are driving to plan your route. Consider using navigation devices with voice directions. Pull over to a safe location if you need to re-program your navigation system or consult printed directions. Help others help themselves. Make it a practice when you call someone s cell phone to ask if they are driving. If the response is yes, take it upon yourself to call back later or ask them to call you back when they are not driving. If everyone did this, we would have way less distracted drivers on the road. Speak up. If you re a passenger and the driver is not focusing entirely on the road, don t be afraid to speak up! Offer to help with directions or even make a phone call on their behalf. You re looking out for your own safety, as well as that of the driver and those sharing the road with you. Fine tune your tunes. Digital music devices (ipod, MP3 players) can pose a major distraction. Pre-set a driving playlist to provide continuous tunes without the need for adjustments. Buckle yourself in on every trip. It s your best defence should you have a run-in with distracted drivers sharing the road with you. 6

7 Passengers can do their part As a passenger you have greater influence on your driver than you may realize. If you are in the vehicle with a distracted driver offer assistance, I can do that or Let s take a break. If you are on the phone with someone who s driving end the call quickly, Let s talk when you re not on the road. Distractions a problem for pedestrians too Research shows that distractions can also have a negative effect on pedestrian safety as well. Distracted pedestrians are less attentive to traffic, leave too little time to cross the road safely and before the next arriving vehicle, and experience more collisions and close calls with oncoming traffic. With more pedestrians using cell phones and other distracting devices there is an increasing need to remind pedestrians to pay attention, especially when crossing the street. Pedestrians should never assume that a driver sees them. Source: Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association 7

8 Suggested Campaign Activities The following ideas can help you raise awareness in your school and community: Hold a True/False Quiz and enter responses into a draw for prizes. Obtain permission from your administration to put up Smart Drivers Just Drive and Take Action against Distractions messages at the entrances and exits of your schools Create a school-specific banner containing a project slogan and school mascot or logo to be displayed at special events and around the school Daily announcements can provide tips for taking action against distractions and to promote the fact that Smart Drivers Just Drive. Set up a Smart Drivers Just Drive display booth use videos and games to attract attention and to prove that true multi-tasking is a myth. Have students and staff sign a pledge and commit to take action against distractions. Check out to pledge online. Take part in a school assembly to spread your message Illustrating the point games & resources Sample Pledge I PLEDGE TO DRIVE FOCUSED Signature I will not text while driving. I will let calls go to voic when I am driving and will safely pull over to retrieve messages and make calls. I will quickly end any calls if the person I called is driving. 8

9 IDEA! Produce an enlarged version of the pledge, have students and staff put their signature on it and keep it displayed in a high-visibility area. IDEA! Enter pledges into a draw to win a prize IDEA! If your school has a uniform, ask school administration if students and staff who sign the pledge can dress casual or wear jeans on a certain day to show support for your efforts to take action against distractions. Displays & Assemblies Use videos from YouTube on the topic of distraction to help reach your audience. RESOURCE: Check out the following videos National Safety Council video One Call Can Change Everything at: Search keyword: National Safety Council Shy-anne Hovorka video Too Young Too Late Seach keyword: shysmusic OPP Video Don t Tempt Fate That Text Can Wait! Search keyword: OPP distracted driving Sample Announcements: Arrive alive. Status updates, tweets and texts can wait until you are done with the drive. Remember Smart Drivers Just Drive Keep your friends & family safe. If you call someone and they're driving, end the call and talk later. Remember Smart Drivers Just Drive Driving takes your full attention. Take a minute and clear your mind before you hit the road. Remember Smart Drivers Just Drive Take a moment to focus on those counting on you to get home safely before focusing on something other than driving. Remember Smart Drivers Just Drive If you're a passenger and the driver's not focused on the road, speak up! Remember Smart Drivers Just Drive IDEA! Use the list of ways to Take Action Against Distractions as daily announcements 9

10 Demonstrations & Games: Often there are only seconds to recognize a hazard and act to avoid a crash. The following games can help demonstrate how distractions can chip away at these precious seconds. (Remember to ask for permission from school administration) TIP! Be sure to practice these demonstrations before doing them in front of an audience. Demonstration #1: Can You Scan? Prepare Set the stage with the three flip charts in front of and facing two chairs about 4 feet away one to the right of the chairs, one in front of the chairs, and one to the left of the chairs. Draw a long road from the bottom to the top of each flip chart. The road should be about 6 inches wide. Decorate the road with trees and a house. Draw a circle on the road to represent an approaching car. Activity Ask for two volunteers with cell phones and have them exchange numbers. Have volunteer 1 sit in the chair while volunteer 2 waits for further instruction. Hand volunteer 1 the flashlight and instruct her to turn on her cell phone, place it on the chair beside her, and answer it if anyone calls. Explain that she is now in the driver's seat. Instruct her to shine the flashlight at each of the circles starting on the left, going to the center, and then to the right. Have her repeat the exercise until told to stop. As volunteer 1 performs this activity, ask everyone to imagine that she is a driver scanning left, forward, and right to notice hazards and avoid crashes. Then whisper to volunteer 2 to send a funny text to volunteer 1 (You may prepare the text beforehand). Watch the flashlight go all over the place when volunteer 1 receives the text message and starts reading the joke. The more interesting the text, the more distracting it will be. Discuss: What happened? Where was the driver looking when she answered the cell phone? Probably at the phone, not at the road What happened to the light? Probably went all over the road What happened to the scanning? Probably stopped because the driver was focused on one direction Could something distract you while you are driving? 10

11 Exercise #2: Spilling Spells Trouble TIP! Store the objects you will use in a cardboard box out of audience view. Have a mop and towels ready for clean-up. Activity Ask a volunteer to join you in the front of the room. Give him a cup of water to hold in one hand. Show him a small ball and tell him you are going to ask him to catch it with the other hand. Turn your back. Ask the volunteer if he is ready, count for three seconds, and then turn and throw a large ball. Remember, he is expecting it to be the same small ball you showed him. Discuss: What happened? Could something unexpected happen to you while you were driving? If you do not get any responses from that initial question, discuss these points that are sure to get the audience talking: Never trust another driver. It is hard to do two things at once. It only took me 3 seconds to confuse you and cause a mishap (spilling the water). 11

12 Exercise #3: Is That Call Worth It? Prepare: Set the stage with three flip charts in front of and facing a chair about 4 feet away one to the right of the chair, one in front of the chair, and one to the left of the chair. Draw a long road from the bottom to the top of each flip chart. The road should be about 6 inches wide. Decorate the road with trees and a house. Draw a circle on the road to represent an approaching car. Place a pencil and a napkin on a small table beside the volunteer. (Note that it will be hard to write on a paper napkin with a pencil.) Activity: Ask a teen with a cell phone to sit in the chair. Ask him for his cell phone number. Give him a flashlight. Explain that he is now in the driver's seat. Instruct him to shine the flashlight at each of the circles starting on the left, going to the center, and then to the right. Have him repeat the exercise until told to stop. Call the teen's cell phone. Tell him you have the number of where the party is going to be tonight, your battery is low, and he has to copy the number down quickly. Tell your volunteer to go to: "29947 Ironical Street, Bastion Heights - it's the third house from the corner on the left." Discuss: What happened? Could something like this happen to you while you were driving? What would you tell your friend on the phone if you hit something? What are possible solutions? It's hard to do two things at once. Also ask the audience to remember a difficult cell phone conversation and to think about what would have happened if they had received it while driving. If no one gives any examples, ask them to consider these possible scenarios: your boyfriend/ girlfriend started a fight with you your mother or father yelled at you your friend was telling you a really good story 12

13 We know that distractions can be just as dangerous for pedestrians as they are for drivers. Use this activity to help spread the message! Interactive Activity on Texting and Walking Purpose: To promote awareness that walking and texting can be dangerous To deliver the message that our brains are not wired to multi-task, so when we try to do two things that require our full attention, they compete for our brain s attention and we don t do either one very well To make a linkage between texting and walking and texting and driving (optional) Props: Masking tape Strong, thick ribbon (or you can use a tie) Buzzer (optional) Two cell phones (participants usually have these) Preparation: Using masking tape, draw out an obstacle course on the floor as such the example below: s t a r t Videos: Use as Ice-breaker: o Humorous video of woman texting and walking into a water fountain o Serious video of teens texting and boy being hit Open it up to discussion of their own experiences 13

14 Activity: Ask for two volunteers Tie their legs together (like a 3-legged race) using ribbon Tell them that they have 2 tasks to do and let them figure out how best to do it o Tasks: walk the obstacle course without stepping on any of the obstacles or touching the outside lines, and text the Old MacDonald song Ask the audience what they think the outcome is going to be o Some will predict that both will fall o Some will predict that one will stop to text while the other is dragging them along Start the volunteers at one end and let them walk the course (*this is not a race) (**Note that organizers should keep an eye out and be ready to catch a volunteer should he/she fall so they don t injure themselves.) Each time they step on an obstacle or the outside line, buzz the buzzer (or if you don t have one just count), and you may request that they start over again (depending on the time frame you have), or you may just keep count of the times you buzz. Eventually, they should figure out that the proper way to do both tasks is to walk the obstacle course together as a team, and then text the Old Macdonald song once they arrive to the finish line. Videos: Monkey Business Illusion video Rick Mercer rant video on driver distraction Open up to discussion on the dangers of walking and texting, and if the audience is older, make linkage to texting and driving Pledge: Talk about the Leave the Phone Alone pledge on Transport Canada s website, and encourage them to talk to their parents to take the pledge (or if they drive, to go on and take the pledge themselves): Suggested video links: Woman Texting and falls into fountain Fatal Collision due to texting The Monkey Business Illusion Rick Mercer s Rant on Distraction Transport Canada «Leave the Phone Alone» / «Laisse Faire le Cellulaire» website : 14

15 Want More Info? Check out: Ministry of Transportation: Transport Canada: Order Resources: Eyes on the road, hands on the wheel - information card Smart Drivers Just Driver - brochure Order from: Publications Ontario Online: Phone: / (Mon. to Fri. 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.) 15