AAA Reveals Top Driving Distractions for Teens

(From AAA News Room) Over the past five years, more than 5,000 people have been killed in crashes involving teen drivers during the “100 Deadliest Days,” the period starting at Memorial Day when teen crash deaths historically climb. As the summer driving season begins, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety released a follow-up study confirming that nearly 60 percent of teen crashes involve distractions behind the wheel. The research also finds a disturbing trend showing that texting and social media use are on the rise among teen drivers. Read more.

Distracted Walking Endangers Pedestrians

According to a September 27 article in the Washington Post by Ashley Halsey, III, the number of people who think it is acceptable to walk while texting is increasing. However, pedestrian safety is compromised during distracted walking. Read the full article.

Learn more about the County’s campaign to reduce pedestrian collisions in parking lots. 

Montgomery County Launches "Summer of Safety" Campaign

This week, Montgomery County launched a "Summer of Safety" education campaign that will use social media and online resources to help residents stay safe all summer.  Each week until the end of August, the campaign will focus on different summer safety topics that affect everyone. Week one begins with safety tips for swimming pools, the Potomac River and the summer storm season. The campaign concludes with a wide range of back-to-school safety reminders.

During the campaign, look for MCDOT's tips on pedestrian, bicyclist and driver safety. In addition, kids who use Ride On during the summer will be reminded to cross behind the bus after exiting, instead of in front of the bus as they do when getting off school buses. Ride On has a summer discount that provides inexpensive travel options for kids.

County departments throughout the government will send daily safety message tweets using "#MoCoSafety."  Or, sign up to receive safety messages through weekly emails.

Check the Summer of Safety website for more tips about safety.

Maryland Teen Driving Coalition Announces Decline in Teen Driver Deaths in Maryland

Last week’s teen driving tragedy in North Potomac was yet again another reminder of the dangers of drinking and driving. Yet, a recent report from the Maryland Teen Driving Coalition was encouraging. The organization announced that the number of 15-to-17 year old drivers killed annually in car crashes in Maryland declined from 14 to 7 deaths per year since 2011. Read the Coalition’s press release below:

Teen Driver Deaths on the Decline in Maryland

Maryland Teen Safe Driving Coalition targets No.1 killer of teens—car crashes

Linthicum, MD – The number of 15-to-17 year old drivers killed annually in car crashes in Maryland has declined from 14 deaths per year to 7 deaths per year since the Maryland Teen Safe Driving Coalition was established in 2011. Maryland is one of 10 coalition states to experience a drop in fatal teen car crashes. Deaths in states with coalitions declined an average of 52 percent while states without coalitions declined just 24 percent.

Maryland also ranks the lowest of all states when it comes to unintentional injury-related death rates, including car crashes, for the fourth straight year in a row with only 26.9 deaths per 100,000 people compared to the national average rate of 40.6 (view press release here).

The Teen Safe Driving Coalitions, established by the National Safety Council (NSC) and supported by The Allstate Foundation, are comprised of traffic safety professionals, parents, legislators, business leaders and representatives from the nonprofit sector who are dedicated to reducing the number of teen driving related crashes in their state.

“The Maryland Teen Safe Driving Coalition has been working since 2011 to help change the culture of teen driving across our state,” said Cathy Gillen, leader of the Maryland Teen Safe Driving Coalition. “We are encouraged by the reduction in deaths among teen drivers, but we know we need to do more than just reduce teen driving deaths, we need to eliminate them completely.”

The 10 Teen Safe Driving Coalitions, including the Maryland Coalition, collectively have reached more than 1.6 million people through rallies, school programs, speaking engagements and other events. Some of the programs include:

• Ticket Your Parent:  Middle school focused program designed to get students thinking about driving behaviors years before they even begin to drive.
• Rx for Teen Safe Driving:  Prescription pad for doctors to share with teen patients and their parents that includes a list of best driving practices for new teen drivers. 
• Teen Crashes GTG (Got to Go):  Peer-to-peer program that can be implemented in schools.
• GDL (Graduated Driver Licensing) Game Plan:  Guide designed for coaches to emphasize the importance of GDL, especially with teens before they drive home after practice.  

Since 2010, The Allstate Foundation has supported NSC with more than $4.2 million in funding for coalition efforts and parent education initiatives.

Visit http://teensafedriving.org/md for more information.   

Contact:  Cathy Gillen, Leader, Maryland Teen Safe Driving Coalition, (443) 463-4449

Alert Montgomery Emergency Warning System Upgraded in Time for Winter Weather

Subscribers Encouraged to Update Accounts to Take Advantage of New Features 

 

Major improvements to the Alert Montgomery emergency warning system, that has served the County since 2004, provide users with customizable features, more choices and greater flexibility. To use the new features, current subscribers must re-register. All residents are urged to sign up for Alert Montgomery to receive up-to-the-minute messages during weather and other emergencies.

Everbridge is the new system provider for Alert Montgomery. User options allow subscribers to select as many or few alerts as desired for emergencies, weather, traffic, school closings, etc.; choose how to be alerted, whether by cell phone, email, text, land line phone, work phone, or a Mobile Member app; and block incoming notifications during certain times of the day or night.

Montgomery County is one of 18 jurisdictions with alert systems in the National Capital area. Within Montgomery County, the cities of Gaithersburg, Rockville and Takoma Park have separate but compatible alert systems to Alert Montgomery. All the regional systems were developed in partnership with the Council of Governments’ (COG) National Capital Region (NCR) emergency response system and all jurisdictions are being upgraded this year.

More information is available on the County’s website.

Texting and Walking Results in More Injuries Per Mile than Texting and Driving

A new study has found that texting while walking causes more injuries per mile than texting while driving. The consequences of texting while walking include bumping into walls, falling down stairs, tripping over clutter or stepping into traffic, according to researchers at the University of Buffalo. They pointed out that even though injuries from texting and driving are more severe, physical harm resulting from texting and walking occurs more frequently.

The full article is available online.

(Source for national data: Headline and Global News, March 4, 2014, as reported in the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety eNewsletter, March 14, 2014.)

Bike to Work Day 2014 Registration Opens Marking the Start of Spring