Please be careful on the roads - there is very little margin for error on South Walton roads, and plenty of distractions already.
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Distracted driving is a dangerous epidemic on America's roadways. In 2012 nearly 3,350 individuals lost their lives in distracted driving crashes. The South Walton Fire District is urging drivers to take the online pledge today and help stop texting and driving.
The average text takes your eyes off the road for nearly 5 seconds. If traveling at 55mph, 5 seconds is enough time to cover the length of a football field (100 yards). Young drivers seem the most likely to be involved in distracted driving incidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NTHSA) nearly 500,000 young adults each year are injured due to distracted driving and 36% of teens say they've been involved in a near‐crash incident because of their own or someone else's distracted driving.
Young adults are not the only ones immune to distracted driving. NHTSA also reports that 49% of drivers with cell phones under the age of 35 send or read text messages while driving.
SWFD would like to remind everyone that the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law” that went into effect state wide on October 1, 2013. http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2013/316.305 remains a current state law.
Beginning today, you can take the pledge to stop texting and driving and encourage your family and friends to do the same. By promoting safe driving habits and not texting while driving, you can help reduce the number of preventable motor vehicle accidents, property damage, injuries and even deaths. It’s not just your life you could be saving. If you have any questions or would like to know more about distracted driving and how you can help keep America’s Roadways safe, please contact Sammy Sanchez, Fire Marshal at 850-267-1298 or ssanchez@swfd.org.
You can download the form by clicking
http://swfd.org/driving_pledge.pdf
April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Distracted driving is a dangerous epidemic on America's roadways. In 2012 nearly 3,350 individuals lost their lives in distracted driving crashes. The South Walton Fire District is urging drivers to take the online pledge today and help stop texting and driving.
The average text takes your eyes off the road for nearly 5 seconds. If traveling at 55mph, 5 seconds is enough time to cover the length of a football field (100 yards). Young drivers seem the most likely to be involved in distracted driving incidents. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Association (NTHSA) nearly 500,000 young adults each year are injured due to distracted driving and 36% of teens say they've been involved in a near‐crash incident because of their own or someone else's distracted driving.
Young adults are not the only ones immune to distracted driving. NHTSA also reports that 49% of drivers with cell phones under the age of 35 send or read text messages while driving.
SWFD would like to remind everyone that the “Florida Ban on Texting While Driving Law” that went into effect state wide on October 1, 2013. http://www.flsenate.gov/Laws/Statutes/2013/316.305 remains a current state law.
Beginning today, you can take the pledge to stop texting and driving and encourage your family and friends to do the same. By promoting safe driving habits and not texting while driving, you can help reduce the number of preventable motor vehicle accidents, property damage, injuries and even deaths. It’s not just your life you could be saving. If you have any questions or would like to know more about distracted driving and how you can help keep America’s Roadways safe, please contact Sammy Sanchez, Fire Marshal at 850-267-1298 or ssanchez@swfd.org.
You can download the form by clicking
http://swfd.org/driving_pledge.pdf
