The 4th Annual NOYS Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit will kick off tomorrow (18th September 2013) with more than 150 youth and adults from across the country meeting for impactful presentation, interactive training activities and creative ways to fight distracted driving amongst young people. The event is taking place in Washington DC, USA and takes place over three days.
The Summit, sponsored by AT&T and State Farm®, will provide teens an opportunity to hear from distracted driving crash victims and national transportation officials, and meet with exhibitors who will showcase products and information using the latest technology to improve traffic safety and eliminate distracted driving. At the conclusion of the Summit, the teens will use what they learned to create initiatives to prevent distracted driving in their hometowns.
Read about distracted driving in the Youth and Road Safety Action Kit
Traffic crashes are the leading killer of teens. Teens overwhelming use of cell phones coupled with their driving inexperience makes for a deadly combination. In fact, drivers under the age of 20 have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,331 people were killed in vehicle crashes in 2011 involving a distracted driver, up from 3,267 fatalities in 2010. That same year, an additional 387,000 people were injured in crashes involving a distracted driver.
A recent Centers for Disease Control study showed that nearly half of all U.S. high school students aged 16 years or older admitted to sending a text or email while driving.
Our CORE Group Representative for North America – Ms Emily Reynolds will be attending the event in her work with NOYS. She told us,
“Attendees have an opportunity to attend, exhibit, host workshops and network with hundreds of industry leaders that are working to address distracted driving on the local, state, and national levels. Be a part of this nationwide effort to work with youth to support distracted driving prevention efforts and help save the lives of youth on the roads!
Youth teams will be selected from around the country through an application process to attend the 2013 Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit and lead year-long efforts in their community. After the Summit, they will develop, implement, and support distracted driving prevention efforts in their local communities and host a Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit in their state”.
Breakdown of the event includes:
- Wednesday September 18th: Travel day and evening youth meet and greet (evening youth activities will be youth only)
- Thursday September 19th: Youth training and AT&T National Day of Action event (youth training will be youth only; All are welcome to attend the AT&T National Day of Action)
- Friday September 20th: Teen Distracted Driving Summit (speakers, exhibitors and activities, All are welcome to attend)