The first-of-its-kind study found drivers took nearly twice as long to react to sudden roadway hazards when they were texting than when they were not – regardless of whether they were pressing the keys or using voice-to-text technology. And, drivers spent significantly less time looking at the road when they were texting, also regardless of how they texted.  Drivers felt safer using the voice technology, but they weren’t safer, according to the study, which found “driving performance suffered equally with both methods.”

 This is the first study based on people driving on a closed course, and the first to compare texting methods on handheld devices as opposed to devices built into the vehicles.

 At EndDD.org we know that when you’re driving, you should only be driving.  No eating, applying cosmetics, reading the newspaper, dialing a phone, or texting. There are many different kinds of distractions luring drivers into accidents and deadly crashes, especially teen drivers.  The EndDD interactive presentation, developed with behavioral, health, public safety and other experts, aims to educate young people and adults about how they can be distracted, and how dangerous those distractions can be to everyone in the car and on the road.

The Southwest Region University Transportation Center sponsored this study as part of the University Transportation Centers Program funded by the federal government and administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration.

Read the study and watch the video here.

EndDD Founder, Joel Feldman (L) with his wife, Dianne Anderson and Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation at the Global Youth Traffic Safety Month Launch in DC

Global Youth Traffic Safety Month is now, and EndDD.org  was there for the launch in Washington, DC,  with the National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), committing to help young people change their driving habits to make this the safest summer ever. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for American teenagers and summer is the deadliest season of all.

“Having the opportunity to meet so many teens committed to working to keep their friends and other young people safe while driving or as passengers is really energizing,” said Joel Feldman, EndDD.org founder, who brings the EndDD.org interactive program to students across the country. “Distracted driving will only change when our culture about distracted driving changes.”

Feldman’s 21-year-old daughter, Casey, was killed by a distracted driver in 2009. He and his wife, Dianne Anderson, created The Casey Feldman Foundation to honor her life and EndDD.org, a project of the foundation, to end distracted driving to help save the lives of other young people.

NOYS Youth from across the nation committed to teen traffic safety

At the NOYS Global Youth Traffic Safety Summit, Feldman, and his wife, Dianne Anderson, had the opportunity to speak with Quaku Mandela and learn of his family’s distracted driving tragedy – the death of a Quaku’s niece. ”Road safety is a basic human right.” said Quakum “and we need to make a daily pledge to commit to safe driving.” Now, Mandela devotes much of his time to the cause, in South Africa, and around the world.

“We don’t ever imagine that young people, so vital, so energetic and with so much promise for the future can be killed in an instant, and in a way that is so senseless and entirely preventable.  We look forward to working with Quaku and the other inspiring leaders we met at the Global Youth Traffic Safety Month launch,” said Feldman.

Cutting of the ribbon before the Long-Short walk

“We value the opportunity to work with all of these youth leaders and applaud Sandy Spavone , director of NOYS and Debra Hersman, Director of  the National Transportation Safety Board, for bringing together leaders from all segments of the population for the launch of Global Youth Traffic safety Month,” Feldman said.

Crashes involving distracted driving are killing children across the country at an alarming rate. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that more than 5,000 young people, ages 16-20, are killed in passenger vehicle crashes every year.

National Highway Traffic Safety Administrator David Strickland speaking at the rally

“As parents we need to do more to set an example of safe, non-distracted driving. We can start by putting down our cell phones, not having meals in the car and just driving,” said Feldman. “We need to immediately make a point of telling our children we are changing the way we drive because it is so important and then doing it. Isn’t it worth our children’s safety to give up using our cell phones while driving?”

More than 200,000 teenagers in 35 states will participate in the EndDD.org interactive program this year, created by Feldman with the help of traffic safety, health, and behavior experts.

The NOYS launch of May 2013 as Global Youth Traffic Safety Month included a Bike to School event, a Youth Traffic Safety Rally at the Jefferson Memorial and a Youth Open House and Transportation Education Day. EndDD.org was one of the organizations exhibiting at the event.

Rallies and events will continue throughout the month to focus attention on youth traffic safety and efforts to help young people reduce heir risk of motor vehicle crashes and fatalities.

EndDD Founder, Joel Feldman (R) with his wife Dianne Anderson and Quaku Mandela

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood stated that
distracted driving is an epidemic” and issued a statement  about Global Youth Traffic Safety Month, saying it “is an opportunity to raise awareness about the importance of good driving habits as we enter the summer months, and I thank all of the youth leaders across the country who are making an effort to improve road safety in their communities.”

The new study comes from researchers at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. They found that elderly drivers who always drove with pets faced a crash rate twice as high as pet-free elderly drivers. The crash rate for drivers who occasionally or rarely brought along their pets was similar to rates for people without pets.

“This is the first study to evaluate the presence of pets in a vehicle as a potential internal distraction for elderly drivers,” said Gerald McGwin, the study’s co-author and a professor in the Department of Epidemiology, according to recent news reports of the study. “The increased crash rate for elderly drivers who always drive with pets is important in the context of increasing driver awareness about potentially dangerous driving habits.”

The University of Alabama-Birmingham researchers found that for older drivers – 70 years of age and older – overall and at-fault crash rates were higher for those whose pets rode with them regularly.

This latest study is more proof of the wide range of distractions that put drivers and others at risk. It takes just a few seconds of distracted driving to cause an accident and take a life. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says more than 10 percent of all highway deaths are caused by distracted driving.

Guidelines announced recently by the federal Department of Transportation aim to keep drivers focused on the road and keep carmakers from producing dashboard distractions.  According to those guidelines, drivers should not take their eyes off the road for more than two seconds.

Researchers concluded that pets are unlikely to physically interfere with a driver but rather, will provide a distraction especially dangerous to older drivers who displayed slower cognitive performance and response times than younger drivers when dealing with “an increased cognitive or physical workload while driving.”

Read more at University of Alabama-Birmingham News.

Joel Feldman speaking at Magee upon receipt of the Champion in the Community Award

Recognizing his leadership and tireless work to help people recovering from serious injuries and to save lives by ending distracted driving, Magee Rehabilitation Hospital in Philadelphia named Joel Feldman of Springfield, PA a 2013 Champion in the Community, an honor recognized by the Pennsylvania State Senate with a special message of congratulations.

“Joel clearly exemplifies everything we talk about when we think about Champions in the Community,”  said Mark Chilutti, Assistant Vice President of Development at Magee Rehab Hospital  in presenting the award at a Penns Landing dinner May 3^rd. “I could not be more pleased, honored, and privileged to recognize my good friend Joel Feldman with our Champion in the Community Award.”

Chilutti noted Feldman’s leadership of EndDD.org (End Distracted Driving), the program Feldman and his wife, Dianne Anderson, created after their daughter, Casey, was killed by a distracted driver in 2009. With the help of experts in traffic safety, health care, and behavior, Feldman developed an interactive presentation he now brings to teenagers and adults across the country.

“Joel travels the country talking to anyone who will listen to get them to deliver this message of how things can change in an instant,” said Chilutti, referring to the EndDD.org presentation that highlights how, in just a few seconds of distracted driving lives can change and even end.

Scott Palmer from the Phillies kicks the night off

The Pennsylvania State Senate issued a special congratulation message marking what they called “richly deserved recognition.” “Through his many initiatives to benefit his community and by his personal example, Mr. Feldman clearly reflects the true spirit and mission of Magee Rehabilitation Hospital,” the special message said.

Feldman, speaking to the crowd of more than 350 guests at the 13^th Annual Night of Champions award dinner, recalled his personal transformation after Casey’s death from anger and bitterness to charity and a commitment to work to save others.

The Magee Eagles wheelchair rugby team is led in by Eagle Mike Mamula.

“I knew it could and would get better and I needed to do something so that Casey would not be forgotten,” said Feldman, a trial lawyer whose clients have been patients at Magee over the years. “So many of my legal clients had shown me the way, from pain and hopelessness to a belief that the future holds promise.”

“The other side of trauma and suffering is the opportunity for growth, the feeling that if  I can endure what I did, then I can get through anything. It’s a new inner strength, a change in life priorities, a greater sense of connection to others and the community, and of course, a greater appreciation for life,” Feldman said.

The Magee wheelchair tennis team makes its entrance

“Look around this room at what those who have suffered have accomplished and you are inspired by the loving, caring and compassionate work of the people at Magee. How could anyone not be in awe of what we are all capable of achieving when faced with incredible challenges,” Feldman said.

Feldman and his wife, Dianne, created the Casey Feldman Foundation to honor Casey’s life through support for causes reflecting her passions. EndDD.org is a project of the Casey Feldman Foundation. Feldman spoke to the motivation behind his national efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving.

Joel Feldman (L) poses with Magee’s Mark Chilutti and Jack Carroll, Magee’s President and CEO (R) and his Champion of the Community Award

“Each and every one of us as parents need to be better role models for our children when it comes to distracted driving,” Feldman said. “Our children are dying at alarming rates and they are doing what they learned is okay from Mom and Dad. We should be worried that are our children are taking risks behind the wheel because of what they have seen their parents doing behind the wheel.”

By the end of During 2013, more than 200,000 young people in 40 states will have participated in the EndDD.org interactive presentation.

“Honoring me for what I do to remember Casey, honors Casey,” Feldman said in closing.

Proceeds from the award dinner benefit programs at Magee, including wheelchair sports, adjunctive therapies, the Patient Resource Center and the Gaspar Center.

Related Links:

Magee Rehabilitation Hospital

Casey Feldman Foundation

Joel Feldman speaking at the PA news conference

With a Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and state lawmakers joining the cause, EndDD.org reached out to drivers and their passengers in Delaware and Pennsylvania, especially teenagers, with an urgent and life-saving warning to change their driving habits and stop driving distracted.

DE – L to R: State Police Superintendent Col. Nathaniel McQueen Jr., Joel Feldman, Governor Jack Markell, Lieutenant Governor Matthew Denn, Tim Lengkeek, President – Delaware Trial Lawyers, Lisa Donofrio, Executive Director, Delaware Trial Lawyers

In separate news conferences in Wilmington, DE and Harrisburg, PA last week, EndDD.org founder Joel Feldman told the story of his 21-year-old daughter Casey, who was killed by a distracted driver. Feldman and his wife, Dianne Anderson, created The Casey Feldman Foundation and EndDD.org, a project of the foundation, to honor Casey’s life and save others.

“While I can’t bring Casey back, I can tell her story so that teens and adults will drive safer,” said Feldman, who worked with traffic safety, mental health and other experts to develop the EndDD.org interactive presentation that will be seen by more than 200,000 teens in 35 states this year.

In Wilmington, Feldman and EndDD.org supporters were joined by Governor Jack Markell, Lt. Governor Matt Denn, and State Police Superintendent Colonel Nathaniel McQueen, Jr. at a news conference hosted by the Delaware Trial Lawyers Association.  That day, the state launched its second wave of cellphone enforcement, issuing tickets to drivers seen talking or texting on a cell phone. The Delaware Office of Highway Safety reported 1,718 crashes in 2012 due to distracted driving, one was fatal. Governor Markell made it clear that his office is committed to seeing that every teen in Delaware participate in the EndDD presentation.

DE – L: Governor Jack Markell, Joel Feldman and Lt. Governor Matt Denn sporting EndDD wristbands

“I was amazed by how many DE trial lawyers attended the news conference and stayed for a training session afterwards so that they could go out in their own communities and educate young drivers about the dangers of distracted driving,” said Joel Feldman.

In Harrisburg, Feldman joined State Attorney General Kathleen Kane, Auditor General Eugene DePasquale, State Sen. Rob Teplitz, D-Dauphin County, Rep. Brandon Neuman, D-Washington and the Pennsylvania Association of Justice (PAJ). Sen. Teplitz and Rep. Neuman sponsored resolutions, passed unanimously in both houses, making April, “Distracted Driving Awareness Month.”

“Distracted driving takes a terrible toll on our families, communities and safety,” said Sen. Neuman. “It is my hope that educating everyone about the importance of safe driving habits will begin to change driving habits that caused 387,000 injuries and 3,331 deaths in 2011.”

PA – L to R: Rep. Brandon Neuman , Mike Davey (PAJ), Joel Feldman, Scott Cooper (PAJ Pres.) and State Sen. Rob Teplitz

“It is crucial to public safety that we continue to remind motorists to keep both eyes on the road and both hands on the wheel,” said Rep. Teplitz. “Just one moment of distraction can change the lives of not only a driver, but passengers, surrounding drivers and pedestrians, as well as their loved ones. No text message is worth risking lives.”

Rep. Teplitz praised Feldman and his family for “their leadership on this critical issue.”

“After he lost his daughter, Joel Feldman changed his own driving habits and committed himself to educating others nationwide about the dangers of distracted driving, especially teens,” Rep. Teplitz said.

“The (EndDD.org) presentation is heart-wrenching, powerful, and illuminating,” Sen. Neuman said. “It will challenge every mind and leave no heart untouched.”

PA Attorney General Kathleen Kane speaking at the press conference

Attorney General Kathleen Kane said, “It is critical that everyone, but especially teenagers who are just forming good driving habits that will last a lifetime, understands that driving while distracted is terrible dangerous…I am glad that the EndDD program is being show in high schools across Pennsylvania, and I’m proud to help make April “End Distracted Driving Month” in Pennsylvania.”

PAJ President Scott Cooper and Mike Davey, President of the News Lawyers Division of the PAJ, have committed their members to carry the EndDD program throughout the state.

Read more about the EndDD.org news conferences:

Pennsylvania:

PA Auditor General Eugene DePasquale speaking at the news conference

Lawmakers, Victim’s Father Warn of Distracted Driving Dangers (Also view full video coverage of entire PA news conference here)

Father uses daughter’s story to tell dangers of distracted driving

Lawmakers, Victim’s Father Warn of Distracted Driving Dangers

Father tries to prevent distracted driving  FOX News Central PA  (includes video news clip)

PA Legislators recognize April as ‘Distracted Driving Awareness’ month  NEWS 21 (includes video news clip)

 Delaware:

Father who lost daughter to distracted motorist leads effort (Includes video news clip)

Phi Sigma Pi has been a supporter of the Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation, holding an annual fundraiser since 2010. At the time of Casey’s death in July of 2009, Casey’s best friend from high school, Amber Staska, was President elect of the fraternity for the 2009-2010 school year. Casey’s close friend, Phil Knasiak, was Vice President.

The three past benefits have been in the form of a concert at West Chester University with an on-campus pedestrian safety and and distracted driving awareness campaign in the week leading up to the concert. The effort received national recognition the first year when Phi Sigma Pi’s President was featured in Seventeen Magazine.

Casey Feldman (R) with Amber Staska, Casey’s best friend from high school and President of Phi Sigma Pi in 2010

The fraternity recently inducted Casey’s parents, Joel Feldman and Dianne Anderson as honorary brothers and have adopted the Casey Feldman Foundation as their annual charitable cause.

This year’s 5K event will take place on the West Chester University South Campus in Lot S, West Chester, PA.  Check- in is 10:15-10:45 and the race starts at 11:00 a.m. Click here for online registration and directions or here to view the event details on Facebook

If you cannot attend, please consider making a donation to the Casey Feldman Foundation so that we may continue to make a difference in the lives of others and save lives through our distracted driving efforts.

Click here to view the articles, photos and videos from the prior three Phi Sigma Pi fundraisers.

An extemporaneous role play exercise during a presentation at Salem High School in NJ in which a student practices speaking up for his safety

April is National Distracted Driving Awareness month and I will be participating in events next week as Pennsylvania and Delaware join other states in announcing the adoption of distracted driving awareness initiatives for April.

I have been  fortunate to have had the opportunity to personally speak with more than 10,000 teens and adults over the last year as part of The Casey Feldman Foundation’s EndDD.org program. I have been joined by more than 175 professionals who have volunteered their time to speak with teens, and collectively, we have spoken with more than 75,000 teens across the country with many more presentations scheduled for April, May and June.

I knew that teens often drove distracted but I did not realize that more than 90% of the teens would tell me that their parents often drive distracted with them in the car. I also learned  that when many teens are driven by their friends’ parents in car pools, those parents will also text, use cell phones, eat, apply make- up or engage in other distracted activities as they drive. Teens are also driven by other teens who are distracted. It was apparent to me that it was difficult for teens to speak up and ask mom or dad,  a friend’s parent, or their friends to drive safer even when they were scared for their safety. So I began using role play exercises and other methods to explore how we could make this uncomfortable conversation more comfortable.

The results are encouraging. When taught how to express their concerns in a non-confrontational manner, given the opportunity to practice that conversation and to become part of a “team” to help the driver drive safer by offering concrete solutions, teens will speak up. In doing so, many feel that they are also showing concern for their driver’s safety.

Even though we all see distracted drivers on a daily basis I am encouraged by the response of teens and firmly believe that our young people will lead the way toward changing our driving culture.

To learn more about the EndDD.org program or to schedule a presentation in your community e-mail info@EndDD.org<mailto:info@EndDD.org>

Students at Oakcrest High School participating in the EndDD presentation

Some 2200 NJ high school teens have participated in the EndDD distracted driving presentation over the last few weeks.  Joel Feldman, father of Casey Feldman, who was killed by a distracted driver in 2009 while crossing a street in Ocean City, NJ, took the EndDD presentation to teens at Salem, Oakcrest and EggHarbor Township High Schools  while Casey’s college friend, Brooke Burdge, spoke to some 1000 students at Monmouth Regional High School.   Traffic safety professionals  also had the opportunity to participate in the presentation at a seminar provided by the South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance (SJTSA). In addition, members of the New Jersey Association of Justice have taken up the cause and  have vowed to continue to reach NJ teens with the EndDD presentation.

A role-play at Salem High School encouraging teens to speak up for their safety

The EndDD presentation was developed by Joel Feldman with the help of researchers, traffic safety experts and teen messaging experts to maximize teen engagement. Thus far, over 60,000 teens have seen the presentation and, with the assistance of volunteer speakers, the message is expected to reach some 200,000 students by the end of this year. The EndDD presentation is comprehensive and covers all forms of distracted driving, not just cell phone usage, which is attributed to less than 1/4 of distracted driving crashes as of 2009 data.  “We do not want teens to have a false sense of security that if they are not using their cell phone, they are driving distraction free”, said Joel.

Students at Oakcrest High School getting EndDD wristbands

Student Daniel Vaccaro at Egg Harbor Township High School contacted Mayor  James “Sonny” McCullough and had March 18th, the day of the presentations in Egg Harbor, declared as “End Distracted Driving Day”.

Vaccaro learned that distracted driving is about more than texting. “The driver who hit Casey as she walked to her summer job in Ocean City wasn’t texting,” Vaccaro said. “He was reaching for something in his vehicle, and said he never saw her in front of him in a crosswalk.”

The program encourages teens to speak up for their safety while passengers and to talk to their parents and come up with a family agreement for distraction free driving.  Said Joel Feldman, ”The vast majority of the teens with whom I have spoken report that their parents drive distracted with them in the car. Thus, I was not surprised at all to read the recent survey that texting while driving, for example, is more widespread with adults than teens. What kind of role model are  we for our children?”

[Donate today  to help us to fund our teen traffic study, stay current in our presentation, produce more PSA's and bring our lifesaving message to more teens across the country.]

Presentation at SJTSA

 Related links:

“School presentation puts face on dangers of distracted driving”, BRADEN CAMPBELL,  The Press of Atlantic City,  March 27, 2013

“Everyone Has A Story: Egg Harbor Township High student takes up cause against distracted driving”, MICHELLE BRUNETTI, The Press of Atlantic City, March 24, 2013

“Casey’s Friend, Brooke Burdge, Shares Her Story with Local NJ Teens in Distracted Driving Presentation”,   EndDD, March 29, 2013

South Jersey Traffic Safety Alliance  (SJTSA)

Photos

The Casey Feldman Foundation

Donate

Brooke Burdge (L) with students from Monmouth Regional High School who are involved in efforts to help promote safe driving within their own school community. Photo Credit: Samantha Primich

On March 11, I had the opportunity to speak with close to 1,000 students and faculty at Monmouth Regional High School in Tinton Falls, New Jersey on the topic of distracted driving. My presentation was part of the EndDD.org End Distracted Driving Student Awareness Initiative, which since its inception in 2012, has reached over 60,000 high school students.

At the start of my presentation, I gave a brief overview of EndDD’s mission, as well as some background on the inspiration for these presentations. I described how in the summer of 2009, an attorney and father named Joel Feldman from Pennsylvania got the news that his 21-year-old daughter, Casey, was struck and killed by a distracted driver while she was a pedestrian in a crosswalk on her way to her summer job in Ocean City, New Jersey. I told them how he then established the Casey Feldman Foundation in memory of his daughter and created EndDD.org and the distracted driving presentation to educate others about the dangers of distracted driving.

Then, I let the group know a little more about me. Like them, I grew up in Monmouth County, NJ. After graduating from a nearby high school in 2006, I went on to Fordham University, where I made a great friend named Casey. This is the moment where I showed them a slide with photos of Casey and myself throughout our time together, as well as two Facebook wall posts from Casey. In this moment, the audience realized my direct connection to this cause and the root of my passion for this issue.

Brooke (L) and Casey in a photo taken during their time together at Fordham University

Later in the presentation, I showed the students the “Faces of Distracted Driving” video created for the U.S. Department of Transportation, in which a few of Casey’s friends and I talk about the preventable nature of Casey’s tragedy.  I explained to the students that you tend to see these types of videos and think, “Something like this couldn’t happen to me or my friends,” but those are all my good friends on that screen, and it’s very real to each of us.

Throughout the presentation, I reminded the group of three main points.  First, this is not just a teen problem. Adults are also guilty. I shared that before July 2009, I was also guilty of distracted driving. Secondly, I let them know that this is a choice. I wasn’t there to tell them what they should or should not be doing. I was there to give them information, and share a few stories, that they can take into consideration when making their own choices behind the wheel. And third, I reminded that that yes, these stories are sad, but they’re preventable. I wanted them to understand that although what happened to Casey and others they would hear about is extremely upsetting, it didn’t have to happen. I wanted everyone in the room to walk away feeling like they were in a position to help stop future tragedies like these from taking place.

Brooke Burdge speaking in the Casey Feldman U.S. DOT Faces of Distracted Driving Video

Before the presentation, over 400 students had completed questionnaires about distracted driving. I covered the forms of distracted driving they had mentioned most frequently in their surveys—taking eyes off the road, texting, talking on the phone. But, I also wanted them to think more about the other kinds of distracted driving that may not come to mind as frequently, but are just as dangerous, such as eating, changing music, applying makeup, programing a GPS, and reaching for something.

We discussed the importance of speaking up for your own safety when a passenger in an adult’s or a friend’s car—how you can offer to take your driver’s phone and cover any calls or texts for them while they are driving.  Through various stories about the numerous consequences of distracted driving, I hoped to drive home the point that this is sad, but preventable. Just a few seconds can change everything, and in the end, are those few seconds of distraction really worth the consequences?

I want to thank those faculty and students who helped organize this assembly.  Additionally, I want to thank every student and faculty member in that room for their attention.  A handful of students have reached out to me on social media since the assembly, and I am so happy that this presentation helped them think about distracted driving in a new light.

NOTE: View photos from the presentation here. View Brooke Burdge and Casey’s other friends  in the Faces of Distracted Driving video below speaking about Casey and how they changed they driving habits after Casey’s death. View U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood’s blog article introducing the video.

Brooke Burdge talking to students at Monmouth Regional High School. Photo Credit: Samantha Primich