Sen. Jennings Urges Maryland Colleagues to Encourage High School Principals to Host CIPP Assembly on the Consequences of Distracted or Impaired Driving

From the office of Sen. J.B. Jennings:

In a letter sent to members of the Maryland State Legislature, Senator J.B. Jennings urged his colleagues to encourage High School Principals in their district to host a CIPP Trauma Prevention assembly focused on the consequences of distracted and impaired driving.

“The leading cause of injury or death for 15-18 year olds is automobile collisions,” said Jennings. Many of these collisions are caused by distracted or impaired driving, with the most severely injured airlifted to the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center, University of Maryland. In an effort to combat preventable injury, the R. Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center created the Center for Injury Prevention Policy Program (CIPP) to develop prevention-focused educational programs for Maryland. A CIPP’s Trauma Prevention assembly on distracted and impaired driving can make a difference and help keep our high-school students safe and prevent these tragedies from occurring. Senator Jennings went on to say, “I urge you to speak with the High School Principals in your district about hosting a CIPP assembly for their students.”

CIPP’s Trauma Prevention Program’s content is sharp, real and thought provoking. The assemblies provide students with a sobering account of how poor decisions can lead to injury and death. As part of a CIPP assembly high school students have the opportunity to watch one of three videos — Get the Message, Someone Like You, and Sean — engage in a discussion about smart decision making with a CIPP team and hear first hand from a young Shock Trauma survivor.

To find out more about the CIPP Trauma Prevention Program, contact Tara Carlson from Shock Trauma at (410)328-2035 or prevention@umm.edu.

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DISTRACTED DRIVING HIGH SCHOOL OUTREACH PROGRAM
Distracted Driving Facts

• Five seconds is the average time your eyes are taken off the road while texting, traveling at 55 mph (which is enough time to cover the length of a football field). (2009, VTTI)

• A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver. (2009, VTTI)

• Using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s handheld or hands-free, delays a driver’s reaction time as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent. (2009, University of Utah)

• The age group with the greatest proportion of distracted drivers was under the age of 20. 16% of all drivers younger than 20 years old involved in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted while driving. (2009, NHTSA)

• 49% of drivers with cell phones under the age of 35 send or read text messages while driving. (2011, Harris Poll)

• An online survey of 1,999 teens ages 16-19 found that 86% had driven while distracted even though 84% admitted to knowing it’s dangerous. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

• 35% of teens who drive while distracted don’t think they’ll get hurt. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

• 23 is the average number of texts per month that teens who text and drive admit to sending. (2010, AAA and Seventeen Magazine)

• 77% of young adult drivers are very/somewhat confident that they can safely text while driving. (Ad Council, 2011)

• 36% of teens say they have been involved in a near-crash because of their own or someone else’s distracted driving. (2010, Pew Research Center)

• Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped, but teenage traffic fatalities have remained unchanged because distracted driving is on the rise. (2007, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and State Farm Insurance Study and NHTSA Study)

Shock Trauma Outreach Program Facts:
• Founded in 1997
• Serves over 17,000 teens across the State in over 60 high schools annually
• Outreach programs taught by Shock Trauma Nurses and trauma survivors who know first-hand the consequences of distracted driving

Program Format
• In-school assemblies for teens and parents offering a presentation on the medical and legal consequences of distracted driving as well as a personal and inspirational story by a trauma survivor.

Weighing the Costs
The program is supported by the community through philanthropic gifts, grants and other fundraising activities. In order to sustain the program and make it available to the next generation of new drivers, we need to raise sufficient funds each year. To donate on line please designate the Shock Trauma Prevention Fund https://www.ummsfoundation.org/sslpage.aspx?pid=274