A quarter of teens respond to a text message once or more every time they drive
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh has just been granted $35,000 for their program aimed at informing parents and teens about the dangers of distracted driving. WESA has covered the story.
The leading cause of death among American teens isn’t an illness – it’s traffic crashes, largely due to distracted driving, according to the National Department of Transportation.
“It is a big problem in this country,” said Chris Vitale, manager for injury prevention and Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC. “For the past two years, we’ve lost about 3,000 to crashes that have been attributed to distracted driving.”
The Allstate Foundation has awarded Children’s a $35,000 grant for the FOCUS program, which is in its seventh year in Pittsburgh. FOCUS uses a simulator that features high-definition video and gaming technology that lets a teen “get behind the wheel” and lobs distractions at them.
Read the full article on the WESA website.
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