Distracted Driving Prevention Expert Says Multi-Tasking Adults Rival Texting Teens While Driving

Aug. 24, 2012 - PRLog -- INDEPENDENCE, Mo. -- Distracted driving prevention expert Douglas R. Horn is urging state and national highway safety officials to place their focus on a new and growing category of distracted driver -- drivers who conduct business from behind-the-wheel.

Distracted driving prevention is a challenging goal due to the new trend toward “business multi-tasking” on the highway. Horn said that this trend is beginning to rival the problem of teen texting in terms of fueling America’s distracted driving crisis.

Distracted driving prevention expert said: “The need to work longer and harder in a very challenging economy and the proliferation of smart phones containing a multitude of business applications have combined in a perfect storm to entice millions of Americans to be continually ‘on-the-job’ even when they are behind-the-wheel,” said Horn, distracted driving prevention expert and founder of the driver’s safety organization Drive by Example (www.drivebyexample.com). “The physical activity of driving the car has now become subordinate to accomplishing work-related or income-generating tasks.”

Horn said that due to our work-oriented society, distracted driving prevention proves to be a demanding issue for safety officials, who are faced with real challenges as they attempt to ratchet down the number of distracted driving related injuries and fatalities caused by working while driving.

“Laws and regulations are an effective deterrence only to a certain point, but if someone feels that there is a sufficient financial incentive to ignore the law and dial-up their customer to close an order, they’re going to make that call, whether they’re sitting behind their desk or behind their steering wheel,” Horn said.

Horn said that education, rather than legislation, will prove to be the key for distracted driving prevention and a decrease in highway injuries and fatalities resulting from multi-tasking on the highways.

The best venue for distracted driving prevention can be found in the private sector’s corporate environment.

“Corporations and businesses have a tremendous vested interest in distracted driving prevention and education of their employees on the dangers of distracted driving,” Horn said. “Recent multi-million-dollar judgments against corporations whose employees killed or injured other drivers and/or their passengers while using cell phones or smart phones have forced companies to open their eyes and become proactive in instructing their employees on distracted driving prevention.”  

Horn said that human resource managers can easily implement distracted driving prevention into their existing corporate wellness programs.

“Regular ongoing instruction delivered to employees in the corporate environment over the long term is what will be effective in changing driving behavior,” he said. “The existence of a single law, rule or policy is likely to have little benefit for distracted driving prevention without continual reinforcement in the work environment.”  

“Since it’s clearly in their best interest, businesses need to be encouraged and rewarded for taking the lead in delivering programs to ensure employees do their multitasking in the office and not on the road,” Horn said. “The regular interaction of corporations with their employees on distracted driving prevention -- what is acceptable driving behavior and what is unacceptable driving behavior -- will be the key to changing America’s distracted driving culture.”

Horn will be sharing his ideas on distracted driving prevention with fellow highway safety experts at the Governors Highway Safety Association’s 2012 Conference on Public Health and Highway Safety in Baltimore, MD, August 26-29.

He can be reached for comment at 816-795-7500.  


ABOUT DRIVE BY EXAMPLE

Drive by Example is a drivers’ safety organization dedicated to promoting distracted driving prevention through driver safety awareness, integration of driver safety into the corporate and business environment, and keeping driver safety high on the public agenda.

Founded by crash lawyer and distracted driving prevention expert Douglas R. Horn, Drive by Example’s primary objective is to advance driver safety by encouraging drivers to model the habits and behaviors that protect themselves, their passengers, and others on the roadway.

Through Drive by Example, Horn develops and implements driver safety initiatives for a variety of corporations and other organizations, including schools, parent groups, safety advocates and community leaders.