Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
In today’s society, Americans are more connected than ever. Gone are the days of pulling to the side of the road in order to find a pay phone to call for help, check in with family or find an address of a business in the yellow pages. All these tasks can now be accomplished while driving down the road. Most Americans have become accustomed to driving with distractions; changing the radio station, eating a snack or carrying on an in car conversation with passengers. Many profess that these distractions can be accomplished while maintaining an awareness of traffic conditions and eye contact on the road ahead. The driver of today is surrounded by technology that takes their attention away from the road; checking navigation systems, starting a movie for passengers or reading/sending text messages to family and friends. As automobilists take to the road in the 21rst century, they will not only be faced with the continued threat of drunk drivers and those that complete daily tasks that should be accomplished in a bathroom, but now will have to contend with the driver who is distracted by reading or sending a text. While many of these drivers are teenagers and young adults, distracted driving is not limited to young drivers. This new phenomena is rapidly moving to the forefront of public safety. The purpose of this study was to determine if a driver safety education class could positively affect the perceptions of drivers with regard to texting while driving. The study was a quantitative, repeated measures quasi-experimental design. The hypothesis was a driver safety education class focusing on the hazards of texting and driving, would improve distracted driving perceptions in middle school teachers. The results showed a change in driver perceptions of the hazards associated with texting and driving. The driver safety education had a positive influence on the participants of the study. Further, the effects of the educational intervention continued to have a positive influence four weeks post education.
Recommended Citation
Noble, Kelli and Young, Duane, "Does Driver Safety Education have an Impact on Texting While Driving?" (2014). Graduate Research Projects. 21.
https://knowledge.e.southern.edu/gradnursing/21