DISTRACTED DRIVING. Training Module Target Audience: Ages 12-18

Transcription

1 DISTRACTED DRIVING Training Module Target Audience: Ages Time Required: 60 minutes as is (to cover PowerPoint presentation and included activities) Can be reduced to 45 minutes with the elimination of optional videos. Sources for background information: Materials and equipment required: Computer capable of showing PowerPoint presentations. Projector/smart screen Deck of cards for activity and stop watch (on phones or ipod) Participants cellphones for activities Optional: Flip chart/whiteboard for recording discussions We recommend that you preview the PowerPoint presentation on the computer that you are going to use for the presentation. The presentation is saved in two different formats. Choose the one that works with your computer. If you have difficulty viewing the videos you can close your file, open up PowerPoint first, then load the Distracted Driving file. Main Objective: To increase participant knowledge of driver distraction and to engage participants in making changes. Participant will: Increase knowledge and understanding of driver distractions. Gain an understanding of how easily the brain is distracted and that we are unable to attend appropriately to more than one activity at a time. Recognize distractions and have an understanding of the seriousness of certain behaviors in a vehicle. Increase awareness of what can be missed in a short amount of time when one s eyes aren t on the road.

2 Welcomes and Introductions Ask to find out where your young drivers are in their driving career. a) Does anyone here have a learner s license? b) Does anyone here have a driver s license? c) Who is planning on getting a driver s license sometime in the future? Answer questions A driver distraction is when someone engages in an activity or is doing something else other than driving while operating a motor vehicle. CCMTA 2009 THREE TYPES OF DISTRACTION VISUAL MANUAL COGNITIVE There are three main types of distraction: Visual - taking your eyes off the road - 90% of all road information comes in through your eyes Manual - taking your hands off the wheel Cognitive - taking your mind off driving daydreaming, talking to passengers, thinking of something else rather than driving TEXTING INVOLVES ALL THREE TYPES OF DISTRACTION!

3 What are some of the possible distractions in this picture? The list of possible driver distractions are: 1. Eating food 2. Drinking coffee 3. Talking on the cell phone 4. Texting 5. Smoking cigarettes 6. Lighting the cigarettes with matches 7. Listening to an ipod 8. Using CD player, laptop 9. Putting on makeup- lipstick, foundation powder on the dash 10. Brushing hair brush is still in her hair 11. Messy car - lots of loose objects 12. Knees on the steering wheel Identify distractions in picture Consider these driving distracted numbers: (next 4 slides)

4 80% of crashes are the result of driver inattention 80% of crashes are the result of driver inattention. *National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Number of items a fighter pilot needs to keep track of during a regular, non combat mission: 300 Number of items a fighter pilot needs to keep track of during a regular, non combat mission: 300 Insurance Bureau of Canada Number of items the average driver needs to keep track of during rush hour Number of items the average driver needs to keep track of during rush hour: Insurance Bureau of Canada While talking on a cell phone you are 4 times more likely to crash While talking on a cell phone you are 4 times more likely to crash. *Redelmeier et al

5 ACTIVITY Card Sorting ACTIVITY: CARD SORTING Need a deck of cards. Part A 1. Select 1 participant for the activity. 2. Assign a timer or set a timer to see how long it takes the participant to sort a deck of cards into four suits. (Can use cell phones.) 3. Share the time with the class. ACTIVITY 1 participant doing the activity with the others helping and observing. Part B 4. Repeat Step 2, but now the same person will be asked to answer the following questions while sorting the cards into the 4 different suits. (Another participant can ask the questions.) What is 2+2 =? Do you drive a quad? What's your favorite movie? Do you own an ipod? What is 9+7? What is your favourite food? What is 19+11? What is 12X9? Do you have your driver s license? What s a subject you do not like? What brand of shoes do you wear? What is your favourite TV show? What is 14+14? How many brothers and sisters do you have? Do you ride a horse? Do you have a quad? Do you have a favourite super hero? What ice cream do you like the most? What is your favourite band? Do you have a dog or a cat?

6 REPEAT QUESTIONS IF YOU NEED TO FILL MORE TIME 5. Share the second time with the class. 6. What happened? Are the cards sorted correctly? Discussion of activity SO WHAT HAPPENS TO YOUR BRAIN WHEN YOU ARE DISTRACTED? This is your brain when you are DRIVING. This is your brain while DRIVING DISTRACTED (i.e., listening to a passenger) *Carnegie Mellon University What happens to your brain when you are distracted from driving? These brain scans are from a study done by Carnegie Mellon University. The top brain picture Shows the areas of the brain activity while driving. Notice the large red areas on the picture. The second brain picture The driver is now asked to drive and talk to a passenger in the car. The brain activity dedicated to driving is reduced significantly. NOTICE that the red areas that were large when just driving are now smaller. YOU ARE NOW A DISTRACTED DRIVER. Interesting thoughts: Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37%. The brain will switch from one task to another - it does not do 2 things well at one time.

7 Number of items the average driver needs to keep track of during rush hour 3000 Reminder of the number of items a driver needs to keep track of can t afford to be distracted. ACTIVITY Distraction Ranking ACTIVITY: DISTRACTION RANKING 1. Break into small groups of As a group pick out the top 5 distractions from the group of 12 pictures. Discuss and pick the five distractions that affect you most often in your vehicle(s). 3. Rank the top 5 distractions - from most often (1) to least often (5). Distraction Ranking Cellphone Use Eating & Drinking Outside Distractions Smoking 4. Have groups report back rankings. Grooming Reading/Writing Driver Fatigue Animals/Insects Weather Conditions Adjusting Controls Inside Distractions Emotions There is no definitive list of the top driver distractions. Distractions change with the age of the driver, with passengers being a top distraction for young drivers and cellphones a distraction for year olds. ( Important to leave the message that any distraction is dangerous. How can you limit the distractions in your vehicle?

8 Some important numbers for your phone: (next 3 slides) The number of metres traveled in 1 second driving at 50 km/hr The number of metres traveled in 1 second driving at 50 km/hr times more likely to be in a crash while texting when driving. Times more likely to be in a crash while texting when driving: 23x *Virginia Tech Transportation Institute If you text while driving you are just as impaired as this: If you text while driving you are just as impaired as this:.125 BAC (1.5 times the legal limit).125 (BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration) Legal Limit is 0.08 mg%) Transport Research Laboratory, Britain

9 Heads up Heads down Texting activity for 1 second Ask participants to get out their cellphones. Texting on cellphone It only takes a second. Have everyone look down and for 1 second text the message What are you doing? Tell them when to stop (after 1 second) In one second at 50km/hr you travelled 15 metres or 1 large school bus. Texting on cellphone Now text: 1 second = 1 bus or 15 metres Meet me at Tim Hortons for coffee and timbits at 5 o clock and bring your friends. Give them five seconds. DRIVING AT 50 km/hr 5 seconds = 5 buses or 75 metres In 5 seconds at 50 km/hr you traveled 75 metres or 5 school buses. The question to each of you is: When your head is down and you are driving what important road information could you have missed? Pedestrians Road signs Vehicles approaching Animals on road Bikers Speed changes Changing road conditions Pothole Child running out onto road Etc. Discussion Brainstorming

10 It only takes a second means that you could have missed a lot of information that you need to drive safely. This poster truly says it all. It may look harmless but it s been known to kill thousands. The following 3 short video clips illustrate different aspects of distracted driving. The clips are short and will play one right after another. You may need to replay them to make sure everyone sees them before going to the next questions. VIDEO 1 VAN The first scenario Mother driving the van. The distraction was the passenger. (Child asked for a toy.) What did the driver do as a result of being distracted? +++Driver went out of her lane and was heading for an 18 wheeler truck. Watch video Reactions/Discussion

11 VIDEO 2 CAR Second scenario - A Car: Young male driver talking on the cell phone while driving was the driver distraction. What almost happened as a result of the driver being distracted? +++ Driver almost hit 2 pedestrians in a cross walk. Watch Video Reactions/Discussion VIDEO 3 YELLOW CAR Third Scenario: Yellow car: Young female driver texting. Texting while driving was the distraction and the driver rear- ended the vehicle because she was not paying attention. Her head was down!! Watch Video Reactions/Discussion Here is a slightly different take on cellphone use on our roadways. Supports the message that cellphones may look harmless, but using them while driving can be deadly. OPTIONAL VIDEO: The following video is approximately 4 minutes long. It is very graphic and may create strong emotional reactions from your participants. Please preview this video and make a personal decision if you want to include it in your presentation. If you do include it in your presentation you may want to give your participants the opportunity to leave the room (either before showing the video or during it if necessary). The video is a public service announcement from Britain. It illustrates that one decision can affect many lives.

12 Note: On some computers this video may stop around the 1:15 mark. You can slide the play bar forward to restart it. Alternately, you can access the video on YouTube. Search for PSA UK Texting while Driving (it was made in 2009). Show PSA and watch participants responses. Questions for the group: 1. What are you thinking after watching this PSA? {Allow time for students to process. Very emotional} 2. Tell me some of the consequences you saw from completing that one text? - For the driver? - For the passengers? - For the other vehicles (drivers, passengers) - For the emergency responders? 3. Now that you have seen this clip What do you think about texting and driving? Optional: Is there any interest in discussing this as a group to develop an activity /project to promote to your peers, friends, school or community.