Distracted Driving Awareness Month – April 2019

Distracted Driving Awareness Month – April 2019

April 1, 2019 – New York, NY – Colorado’s Department of Transportation (CDOT) launched a “Get Turned On” campaign as a part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month to rid the roadways for distracted drivers.

On average, distracted drivers are involved in 43 crashes every day across the state, out of all 15,600 crashes in the state last year, 13% were distracted driving. A total of 6,269 injuries were sustained and 53 fatalities.

In a survey published last year by CDOT, it was revealed that almost 90% of respondents admitted to driving distracted in the previous week, with 40% revealing that they had read a text message on their phones with another 35% stating they had sent a text.

CDOT is pushing “Do Not Disturb While Driving” modes on iPhones and Android devices, along with other third-party apps that block notifications while on the go–Life Saver, SafeRide, True Motion Family, and Driving Detective.

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month, and we at EXP aim to promote safe driving and raise awareness of this harmful epidemic.

“It’s the most dangerous thing that we do on a regular basis,” said Colorado State Patrol spokesman, Colin Remillard. “I think everybody is guilty. Driving is something people do every day, and it’s taken for granted when people go on autopilot from their house to work twice a day. But these are thousand-pound missiles going down the highway. Every time you get in a vehicle you need to be tuned in and paying attention every time.”

“Distracted driving continues to be a big danger for drivers, the community and law enforcement,” stated Jamie FitzSimons, Summit County Sheriff. “We run into it a lot. It’s interesting driving down the road and seeing how many people continue to text as they’re driving, try to catch stuff on video or put on makeup in the visor mirror. It’s extremely dangerous, and you don’t have the time to react you think you do.”