AAA Northeast today applauded State Senator Tony Hwang (R-28) for his continuing efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.
At a news conference (today at 8 am) at the Fairfield Police Department to highlight Distracted Driving Week, AAA joined Sen. Hwang, Fairfield Police, the Connecticut State Police and other traffic safety advocates to call attention to this month’s “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” distracted driving enforcement campaign. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has declared August National Distracted Driving Month.
Despite numerous educational and advertising campaigns reminding drivers to put phones away while driving, motorists continue to partake in dangerous behavior behind the wheel, said Fran Mayko, AAA Northeast spokeswoman.
And even though enforcement efforts, such as the “U Drive. U Text. U Pay” campaign, may change driving behavior temporarily, motorists tend to fall back on their bad driving habits involving cellphone use, said Mayko.
“We as drivers understand the risks involved when driving; but many of us just think cell phone use is someone else’s problem,” said Mayko. “Drivers know it’s dangerous to drive distracted, but we harbor a ‘Do-As-I-Say; Not-As-I-Do‘ attitude when we’re behind the wheel and we talk or text.”
However, there is one simple, effective way drivers can self-monitor themselves behind the wheel: by activating their Smartphone’s “Do Not Disturb” feature, she said. The setting won’t interrupt the driver with alerts, notifications, or calls while in a moving vehicle.
“Unfortunately, many drivers don’t realize such a setting is appears on Smartphones,” Mayko added.
In fact, a 2018 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study found half of drivers whose cell phones had DND features didn’t activate the setting because they either didn’t know the feature existed, didn’t know how to use it; or simply chose not to use it, she said.
“Using “Do Not Disturb” on your phone is a simple ‘fix’ to curb, even eliminate, just one other distraction you face while driving,” said Mayko.