By Laura Sullivan, PSCO Public Relations Specialist
The following article is published with permission from the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office’s bi-weekly e-newsletter Inside the Star
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You wouldn’t drive with your eyes closed, would you? When you type a text, or even read a text, you’re taking your eyes off the road for several seconds. It doesn’t feel like a long time, but you may be surprised to know that in just five seconds, a car driving at 55 mph can travel the length of an entire football field.
A lot can happen in the time it takes for you to write a text. A child can run into the road or the car in front of you might slam on their brakes. With your eyes on your phone, you might swerve into the bike lane. Driving a car demands your full attention and taking your eyes off the road can be fatal.
The Targeted Response Against Distracted Driving (TRADD) program, presented by the Pinellas County Sheriff’s Office and sponsored by State Farm Insurance, is a way to educate young drivers. “The goal is to explain the dangers of distracted driving to students who are fairly new to driving,” said Corporal Steve Tellis of the Youth Services Unit. He teaches the class in high schools around the county that have a driver’s education program. It is important for the kids to build good habits when they’re just learning how to drive.
TRADD is a two-day program that has both an instructional and a practical application component. The first day is classroom instruction. Students get a slide show with a message from Sheriff Bob Gualtieri, a video, and some facts and statistics.
The statistics about distracted driving are alarming. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that 424,000 people were injured in 2019 in crashes involving a distracted driver. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, 3,142 people died due to distracted driving in 2020. That’s almost nine people every day dying because someone had to check their phone, put on lipstick, or adjust their radio. Approximately one in five of those fatalities were pedestrians or people outside a vehicle – joggers, bike riders, or people pulled over to the side of the road.
TRADD hopes to reduce those numbers through education. On the second day of TRADD, students get to drive an all-terrain vehicle around a track set up with cones. While they drive, students are given a phone. “The students are encouraged to text in this controlled environment so that they can experience the difficulties and danger that distracted driving presents,” Corporal Tellis said.
Students also learn to be a good passenger. Passengers can be the designated texter and navigator, leaving the driver free to focus on driving.
Teens can be pretty confident about their ability to multi-task. With so many attractions pulling them in different directions all the time, they may think that driving can just be added to the mix. Through TRADD, they learn that when you drive, that should be the ONLY thing you’re doing.
Drivers can be stopped and ticketed for texting while driving. That includes typing, sending, or reading a message. You are allowed to text when parked, or when stopped at a red light. You can also use a phone in hands-free mode, for navigation, for receiving safety or traffic alerts, and some other exceptions. It’s still much safer to focus on driving than to look at your phone for any reason.
What about law enforcement officers, many people ask? They sometimes have to operate a motor vehicle while using their in-car laptop, cell phone, or radio. Law enforcement, fire, and emergency medical professionals are exempt and they also receive special training to drive in higher risk situations.