Focused Driving Overview
We are kicking-off Distracted Driving Awareness Month with good news – more Washington drivers are focused and attentive on our roads. Washington’s distracted driving rate fell from 9.4 percent in 2020 to 6.9 percent in 2021 With the decline, the distracted driving rate has dropped to where it was before the pandemic.
To further reduce driver distraction, state and local law enforcement agencies across Washington will be running a series of high visibility enforcement patrols using both officers on foot to identify distracted drivers, and patrol cars to intervene and ticket distracted drivers. The enforcement patrols run from April 4th through the 11th.
Join us in reinforcing the fact that most Washington drivers remain focused while driving and off their phones. Please use these materials as you communicate throughout the month on distracted driving.
Focus First
- When driving, put the focus on driving first.
- Focused driving means safer roads.
- Distracted driving has declined in Washington. That’s motivation for all of us off the phone when we’re on the road.
- People save lives when they focus on driving. Focused driving begins by turning off your phone before starting your car.
- Choose safety, like most Washington drivers, and don’t let your phone endanger your life.
Focused Driving is Everyone’s Responsibility
- Set a good example by turning your cell phone off, putting it on “Do Not Disturb” mode, or giving it to a passenger while driving.
- As a passenger, you can encourage the driver to put their phone away while driving.
- Offer to hold the driver’s phone, enter a destination on GPS, or send a text.
- For GPS use, enter your destination before beginning your drive. A dash mounted phone stand can keep your phone in view but should be positioned so it doesn’t block any visibility through the front windshield.
- Set clear expectations for teen drivers that on the road means off the phone.
- Get prepared for every drive: adjust seat and mirrors, buckle up, set the radio and GPS, and put your phone out of reach before leaving.
Most Washington Drivers Focus When They Drive
- Driving deserves our undivided attention, and most in Washington State do a great job staying focused behind the wheel. More than 90% give driving their full attention.
- Washington’s driver distraction rate fell from 9.4% in 2020 to 6.9% in 2021 as more people chose to focus as they drive.
- On the road off the phone – device use, hand-held or device to ear – is the most common source of driver distractions.
- Nearly 18,000 crashes involving a distracted driver were reported in 2021 in Washington State.
- Emphasize focused driving with young drivers. More than one in ten distracted driving crashes involved teen drivers between the ages of 16 and 19 who drove while distracted.
Enforcement
- Law enforcement agencies across the state are stepping up enforcement with distracted driving patrols. Spotters on foot at intersections and other places where drivers may be tempted to use their phones will work in tandem with patrol cars for ticketing drivers.
- Remember that the first ticket for distracted driving is $136. A second ticket withing five years will cost at least $234. Any tickets may increase your car insurance premiums.
Sample Social Media Posts in English
The following are sample graphics and related content that we encourage you to use on your organization’s social media. Feel free to adapt for use on your website or customized emails too.
More Washington Drivers are choosing to drive focused. Statewide driver distraction fell from 2020 to 2021. Let’s all put focus first!
Focused driving saves lives! Deaths from distracted driving have decreased 40% since the legislature passed Washington’s distracted driving law.
We teach them to keep their eyes on the ball. Show them how to keep their eyes on the road. Choose focused driving. The little ballplayer in the backseat is focused on you.
Can you help us out? We need 💯% of Washington drivers to stay focused. Together we can prevent thousands of car crashes this year.
More than 90% of drivers in Washington are focused and vigilant behind the wheel. Attentive drivers can react quickly to avoid a crash.
Set clear expectations and a good example for teen drivers: on the road means off the phone.
Passengers can help a driver stay focused. Offer to send a text, change the music or set the GPS.
Social Media Posts in Spanish
Más conductores en Washington están eligiendo manejar enfocados en la carretera. El nivel de distracción de los conductores en todo el estado bajó del 2020 al 2021. ¡Pongamos todos nuestro enfoque en la carretera y manejar sin distracciones!
¡Manejar enfocado en la carretera salva vidas! Las muertes causadas por el manejo distraído han disminuido un 40 por ciento desde que se aprobó la ley sobre el manejo distraído en Washington.
Les enseñamos a nuestros niños mantener la vista en la pelota. Enséñeles como mantener la vista en la carretera. Elija ser un buen ejemplo para su niño enfocadose en la carretera cuando maneja. El pequeño jugador de béisbol sentado en el asiento trasero está enfocado y aprendiendo de usted.
¿Nos puede ayudar? Necesitamos que el 💯% de los conductores en Washington se mantengan enfocados. Juntos podemos prevenir miles de choques este año.
Establezca expectativas claras y dé un buen ejemplo para los conductores adolescentes: estar en carretera significa no estar en el teléfono. #nodistractions
Más del 90 por ciento de los conductores en Washington están enfocados y atentos detrás del volante. Los conductores atentos pueden reaccionar rápidamente para evitar un accidente.
#nodistractions
Los pasajeros pueden ayudar a un conductor a mantenerse enfocado. Ofrecer a enviar un mensaje de texto, cambiar la música o configurar el GPS. #nodistractions
Social Media Animations
These HD videos are sized at 1080 x 1080px for use on social media feeds.
For Immediate Release
March 31, 2022
Distracted Driving Rate Falls in Washington
Olympia – Washington’s distracted driving rate fell in 2021, from 9.4 percent in 2020 to 6.9 percent, according to the Washington Traffic Safety Commission’s (WTSC) Annual Distracted Driving Observation Survey. Officials said the decline was welcome news to mark the beginning of April as Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Law enforcement agencies across the state will be conducting emphasis patrols, with the aid of spotters on foot looking for motorists who continue to drive distracted.
“Focused driving means safer roads,” said Erika Mascorro, WTSC Program Manager for Distracted Driving. “The decline in distracted drivers gives us something to cheer as we kick-off distracted driving month. Seeing more people focused on driving is motivation to get all of us off the phone when we’re on the road.”
The distracted driving rate climbed nearly three points in 2020 over 2019. In 2021 the rate declined to its pre-pandemic level. Device use (hand-held or device to the ear) is the most common source of driver distractions. Distraction is highest on city streets and lowest on state routes. In 2017, the legislature passed Washington’s current distracted driving law, which prohibits hand-held cell phone use while driving, stopped in traffic, or while at a stop light. Since the law was passed, distracted driving deaths have decreased 40 percent, from 155 in 2017 to 93 in 2020.
“People save lives when they turn off their phones before they start their cars,” said Mascorro. “Make focused driving a habit by putting your phone in the glove box, by taking 10 minutes before you drive to catch up on phone calls or text messages, or by setting up music or navigation before you drive. We can refuse, like most Washington drivers, to let our phones endanger our lives.”
While distracted driving rates are down, more than 80 law enforcement agencies statewide will be adding patrols focused on finding drivers whose attention is not on driving. The patrols run April 4th through the 11th and will employ officers in patrol cars working in tandem with “spotters” on foot at intersections and other places where drivers are tempted to distract themselves by peeking at their phones.
Research shows that it can take a driver 27 seconds to refocus on the road after using a cell phone, the time it can take to drive the length of three football fields in a car moving at 25 mph.
“Our hope is that all Washington drivers will choose to put focus first. Distracted Driving Awareness month is a great time to begin a lifelong habit of putting your phone away before you drive,” Mascorro said. “And the decline in distracted driving over the past year should encourage all of us to do it.”
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Videos
Using short videos is a popular way to reinforce messages important to instilling safe driving practices and behavior for our teen drivers. Feel free to embed in your social media posts, email messages, or on your website.
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