Texting While Driving More Expensive Than You Think!

Texting while driving is one of the most important safety issues currently facing regulators, traffic safety experts, and drivers themselves. Drivers who have their heads down, staring at the display of their phone while mentally composing a message and typing on a tiny keyboard, simply can't devote adequate attention to the safe operation of their vehicles.

States are starting to catch on; in most of America, it's illegal to text and drive. Presently, 39 states and the District of Columbia have laws on the books that forbid the practice. More importantly, the U.S. Department of Transportation is working with states to develop and train police officers on better methods for spotting drivers who are texting.

How will all of this affect the wallet of a driver who gets nabbed for texting behind the wheel? A recent article in The Christian Science Monitor points out that a citation for texting while driving is often far more expensive than people think. And the ticket is just the beginning, as a texting violation on a driver's record can lead to insurance premium increases.

Meanwhile, another piece from KSL5 in Utah suggests that bans on texting while driving might actually increase accidents. The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety says that 3 of every 4 states that have enacted a ban on texting while driving have seen crashes actually go up rather than down. It's speculated that this is because drivers who are texting are holding their devices lower in an attempt to avoid detection.

In the end, the best bit of advice is to simply put down the phone when your driving!

National Teen Driver Safety Week October 14 – 20

Now's the time to prepare for National Teen Driver Safety Week, which runs from October 14 – 20, 2012! Promoting safe driving practices for teens is an important mission for providers of traffic safety education. Traffic crashes are the leading cause of death for teenagers in America, and, mile for mile, teenagers are involved in three times as many fatal crashes as all other drivers. Moreover, it is during these formative years that young drivers learn techniques that are likely to stick with them; safe driving habits that are developed early on will serve drivers well for the rest of their lives.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) offers parents, educators, and teens themselves a wealth of useful resources related to this event. Research shows that inexperience and immaturity combined with excessive speed, not wearing seat belts, distracted driving (mobile phone use, loud music, teen passengers, etc.), driving under the influence of alcohol or other drugs, and drowsy driving are prime contributors to teen-related crashes. Fortunately, these are behaviors that can be modified through awareness and education.

Another great educational tool for teen drivers is Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive. This parent-teen driving guidebook covers the supervised driving requirements for licensing in all 50 states (for up to 60 hours of behind-the-wheel practice), and studies suggest that parent-teen driving practice can significantly reduce the chances of a young driver being involved in a crash. It's the perfect teaching tool for parents, and helps to eliminate the stress and anxiety associated with training a new teen driver. If someone doesn't need it for their own child, it makes a great gift idea for family members and friends who have teenagers.

Take some time to review this helpful information, and let's all make a difference this National Teen Driver Safety Week!

Back-to-School Safety Reminders

With school starting up again, we encourage you to remind students in your classes to take extra care when driving in school zones and when encountering school buses. Children are small, unpredictable, and quick. Worse yet, they don't always exercise the best judgement. They depend on adult drivers to exercise greater caution for their protection.

The laws that regulate the operation of motor vehicles in school zones vary slightly from state to state (you can find the specifics in your lesson plans), but they always involve slowing down. Motorists should always obey posted reduced-speed limits in these areas, and should always follow the instructions of crossing guards. Codified regulations are no substitute for good, old-fashioned common sense, however: In these situations, drivers simply need to slow down and watch carefully for kids darting in front of the vehicle!

Likewise, the requirements for yielding to school buses, and the punishments for non-compliance, vary by state (again, refer to your lesson plan for the complete details):

• California: When approaching from any direction a school bus that is loading or unloading schoolchildren and has its flashing red lights (and stop signal arm, if so equipped) displayed, drivers must bring their vehicles to a complete stop before passing the bus. Drivers may not proceed until the flashing red light signal (and stop signal arm, if so equipped) cease operation. Drivers who approach a school bus while traveling in the opposite direction on a divided highway or multi-lane (two or more lanes in each direction) highway do not need stop for the bus, but should proceed with extreme caution.
• Florida: When approaching from any direction on a public or private road a stopped school bus with flashing red lights and an extended stop arm, drivers must bring their vehicle to a stop and remain stopped until all children are clear and the bus has resumed forward motion. Drivers who are traveling on the opposite side of a divided roadway (separated from the bus by an unpaved space of at least five feet, a raised median, or a physical barrier) are not required to stop.
• Michigan: Drivers should be extremely careful around a school bus that has stopped to load or unload children:
  • When a school bus's overhead lights are flashing yellow, motorists should prepare to stop.
  • When a bus's overhead lights are flashing red, motorists must come to a full stop no closer than 20 feet from the bus until the bus resumes motion or the red lights are deactivated.
  • When a bus's yellow hazard lights are flashing, motorists should proceed with caution.
  It is not necessary to stop for a school bus that is stopped on the other side of a divided highway where the road is separated by a barrier, such as a concrete or grass median, island, or other structures that separate the flow of traffic. At an intersection where traffic is controlled by an officer or a traffic stop-and-go signal, a vehicle need not be brought to a full stop before passing a stopped school bus, but drivers must slow to a reasonable and safe speed no greater than 10 mph.
• New Jersey: When approaching from any direction on a public or private road a stopped school bus that has its red signal lights flashing and is loading or unloading passengers, drivers must stop at least 25 feet away and remain stopped until all children are clear and the bus has resumed forward motion. Drivers traveling on the opposite side of a divided highway (separated from the other side by a safety island or other physical barrier) are not required to stop, but should proceed at no more than 10 mph until they are clear of the bus and any children.
• New York: When approaching from any direction on a public or private road a stopped school bus that has its red signal lights flashing and is loading or unloading passengers, drivers must stop at least 20 feet away from the bus and remain stopped until all children are clear and the bus has resumed forward motion.
• North Dakota: When a school bus is stopped to load or unload passengers, and its flashing red lights and/or stop sign control arm are activated, drivers approaching from both directions must stop before reaching the bus. Drivers should remain stopped until the bus has resumed forward motion, until the bus driver signals other vehicles to pass, or until the bus's red lights are deactivated. Drivers traveling on the opposite roadway of a divided highway are not required to stop, but are advised to proceed with caution.
• Virginia: When approaching from any direction on a public or private road a stopped school bus with flashing red lights and an extended stop arm, drivers must stop and remain stopped until all children are clear and the bus has resumed forward motion. Drivers traveling on the opposite side of a divided highway (separated from the bus by a physical barrier or an unpaved median strip) are not required to stop.

Make sure your students know the law so they can avoid citations and keep children safe!

New Florida Laws for 2012

The latest legislative session produced changes to a number of driving-related laws. The good news is that the vast majority of these changes were administrative edits and will minimally impact how driver education and driver improvement courses are presented to the public.

Nonetheless, revised insert sheets are available for the booklet and video/DVD version of Traffic Safety Consultants' 4-Hour Basic Driver Improvement (BDI) Course. Please include a copy of the appropriate insert sheet with each product that you ship. Note that the insert sheets are cumulative; if you've previously been shipping insert sheets, you may replace your old stock with this new version.

Please click on the links below to access the files you need. You may read/print them online or download them to you local computer for easier access whenever you need them.

• 4-Hour Booklet insert - English
• 4-Hour Booklet insert - Spanish
• 4-Hour Video/DVD insert

Make sure that you ship the latest home study inserts, as you will be responsible for teaching this new material to students!

With seasonal temperatures nearing their peak, now is also a good time to emphasize one of the legislative changes. The law regarding parents who leave young children unattended in the vehicle has been modified as follows:

A parent, legal guardian, or other person responsible for a child younger than 6 years of age may not leave that child unattended or unsupervised in a motor vehicle for a period in excess of 15 minutes, or for any period of time if the motor of the vehicle is running or if the health of the child is in danger or the child appears to be in distress. (FSS §316.6135; emphasized text added)

Children (or pets, for that matter!) should never be left in a vehicle on a hot day—whether accidentally, or consciously and negligently while their parents run errands. While anyone can experience a memory lapse and forget a child (it's the most common reason children are left behind), that little slip could be deadly. Vehicles heat up quickly on a hot day, and a child might die of hyperthermia in just minutes!

Share with your students these helpful tips for avoiding a hot-vehicle mishap:

• Place your cell phone, purse/briefcase, etc., on the floor of the vehicle's rear seating area. When you retrieve them at the end of your trip, you'll notice your child as well.
• Seat the younger (or quieter) child behind the front passenger seat, where he or she is most likely to catch your eye.
• Keep a teddy bear or other stuffed animal in the car seat when it's empty. When you put your child in the seat, move the toy to the front passenger seat as a reminder.
• Make a habit of always opening the back door of your vehicle after you park to make sure there's no child back there.
• Ask your child's babysitter or day care provider to always phone you promptly if your child isn't dropped off as scheduled.

Youth Traffic Safety Month Reinforces Improved Awareness this May

by guest contributor Lillian Sanders

There are many different traffic related campaigns and causes conducted annually, but perhaps one of the most important involves road safety relating to teenagers. Good techniques instilled at an early age can become lifelong safe driving habits. This May, Youth Traffic Safety Month is being recognized throughout the United States as an opportunity to help young drivers toward safer practices on the road.

Youth Traffic Safety Month is presented by the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), a group of youth-based organizations that work together to promote safety for children and teenagers. The need for improved road safety for teenagers will be met with numerous different campaigns and rallies throughout the month of May. Many high schools are set to have guest speakers on the topic of driving safety, while a number of celebrities and leaders from the automobile industry are also set to speak up for traffic and safety relating to teenagers.

The integration and growth of technology has certainly had an adverse affect on safe roads over the past few years, and the effort to improve teen driving safety comes at a time when distracted driving is in the spotlight more than ever. Many agencies and groups are aiming to improve the roads through new laws and education that serves to influence young drivers' behavior behind the wheel.

The figures related to teen driving and distractions over the past few years are quite telling. In a recent survey by AT&T, it was found that nearly half of today's teenagers are likely texting and driving behind the wheel. The statistics sank in even more when the survey revealed that over 90% of those teenagers were regularly texting and driving—even though they knew the practice to be dangerous!

Efforts like Youth Traffic Safety Month are strong reminders that there's plenty to be done with regard to making our roads safer, especially for younger drivers. Enhanced awareness, good education, and proper training can lay the groundwork for safer drivers in the future and help to reverse these troubling statistics. Products like Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive can help parents to help their teens become safer drivers. To get yours today, visit Amazon.com, or contact TSC's Director of Affiliate Operations, Gloria Verver, (via email or by calling 800 . 252 . 9488) for affiliate pricing and bulk-purchase discounts.

Parent-Teen Book: Hot for the Summer!

We at Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., would like to remind you about our great new product, Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive. This parent-teen driving guidebook covers the supervised driving requirements in all 50 states (for up to 60 hours of behind-the-wheel practice). It's the perfect teaching tool for parents, and helps to eliminate the stress and anxiety associated with training a new teen driver. And it makes a great gift idea for family members and friends who have teenagers. This is a highly recommended product—especially for all driver training schools and traffic schools that offer classes to first time drivers. Give your business a bump and keep your students from a fender-bender: Order your stock of this outstanding new product today!

If you are interested in offering Teach Your Teen to Drive—and stay alive to your students, or via a link on your website, please contact our Director of Affiliate Operations, Gloria Verver, (via email or by calling 800 . 252 . 9488) for inexpensive affiliate pricing and bulk-purchase discounts!

Outstanding Parent-Teen Driving Guide Available

Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., (TSC) has been hard at work, and we're getting ready to roll out several exciting new products in the upcoming months. The first of these, available immediately, is our fantastic parent-teen driving manual!

Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive

The process of learning to drive can create a great deal of anxiety for both parents and teens. A good professional driving school can help to prepare young motorists to take to the road safely, of course, but licensing regulations in all 50 states still require parents/guardians to supervise their children during practice driving sessions—for up to 60 hours behind the wheel, depending on the jurisdiction. Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive provides life-saving tips and easy-to-follow, structured exercises to reduce stress factors for everyone. Ten years in the making, this is undoubtedly the best—and easiest—parent-teen driving guide ever written.

The book features:

• Rave reviews from law enforcement, traffic safety professionals, authors, and readers alike.
• Eight simple, life-saving lessons that employ innovative teaching techniques: Parents demonstrate each drill three times, followed by the teen performing the drill three times.
• At the end of each lesson, the teen performs a culmination of the drills; then parents and teens celebrate with our famous "ice cream social," creating an experience both will cherish forever.
• Entertaining and insightful writing by Bruce and Brett Elkins for Traffic Safety Consultants, Inc., the nation's preeminent authority on driver safety.
• The book makes an educational gift for teen birthdays, or for friends, parents, or grandparents who know a young driver-in-training.

Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for 15- to 20-year-olds, and 1 in 4 licensed drivers age 16 and 17 is involved in a collision. Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive is a natural complement to any driver education, driver training, or traffic safety course that you offer, and it presents a great opportunity to make a supplemental sale. Your relieved customers will be grateful, and this book will have a dramatic impact on many of your students' families. It might even save a life!

Place Your Order Now!

If you are interested in offering Teach Your Teen to Drive…and stay alive to your students, or via a link on your website, please contact our Director of Affiliate Operations, Gloria Verver, (via email or by calling 800 . 252 . 9488) for inexpensive affiliate pricing and bulk-purchase discounts!