Osg3 20110307 DRIVING

TOF sponsored by… This is DR

There are public service ads.

There are tragic news stories just about every day.

And states have passed laws.  And still only about a third of Americans under age 30 think it’s dangerous to use a phone while driving.

So the Secretary of Transportation will launch an all out campaign to drum this phrase into young people – Hang Up and Drive.

More after this from Charlie:

((SPOT))

TAPE:

You want to watch a heart wrenching video – at dot.gov the Department of Transportation has Miss South Dakota describing the accident that killed her brother.

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It’s part of a campaign called Hang Up and Drive.  About 5000 people a year are killed by what’s described as distracted driving – they’re not drunk, but as brain researcher John Medina tells his students, since the brain can only pay attention to one thing at a time, they might as well be:

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But Mark Rosenker, CBS News safety analyst, says its especially getting through to young people:

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There are cell phone apps that use GPS to sense when the phone is moving too fast and will shut it off… but the stats are clear, 63% of young driver admit they use a phone behind the wheel.  And our macho driving culture says no one can tell us how to drive.  So ultimately, natural selection will take over.  It just unfortunate that there’s so much collateral damage.

TOF