Distracted Driving Education Program

In 2017, KMM added a new Distracted Driving presentation for young drivers to our safety outreach program. The 45-minute interactive presentation, created by the Robert Wood Johnson Trauma & Injury Prevention Department, walks teens through sobering videos and interactive exercises that emphasize the life-threatening dangers of distracted driving. With assistance from the local Police Departments, more than 1400 students in Colonia, Woodbridge, John F. Kennedy High School in Iselin, Highland Park, South Amboy, and South River High Schools participated in this program.

Sometimes, the discussion gets personal.  During a presentation in South River High School, a police officer shared how his father died after a young distracted driver side-swiped him as he helped a disabled vehicle on the Garden State Parkway.  In Highland Park High School, a teacher recognized the smiling faces of a young couple in a prom photo. They were her neighbors’ children and they died in a car crash shortly after that picture was taken. With tears streaming down her face, she described the anguish of losing these young adults and the impact it had on the entire community.

KMM’s goal is to empower and educate Middlesex County’s young drivers to act responsibly and pay attention behind the wheel so they don’t become another statistic of distracted driving. If you would like to bring this program to your local high school, please contact KMM at 732-745-4465.

Drive Safe to Work – This Week and Every Week!

poster-webWhether you are driving for work, to and from work, or even to the grocery store, the time you spend in your vehicle can be the most dangerous part of your day. That is why this [next] week we will be observing Drive Safely Work Week, the annual safe-driving campaign sponsored by the Network of Employers for Traffic Safety (NETS.)

This year’s theme is Gear up for safe driving: Mind – Body – Vehicle.  You likely already know that vehicle maintenance is an important part of a safe trip. This year’s campaign will highlight how being mindful of physical and mental wellness—along with the “health” of your vehicle—are all connected in making us safer, more attentive drivers.

Among other things, we’ll cover tips for getting better sleep, limbering up before getting be hind the wheel, strategic snacking, the importance of regular vision screening, making sure you have the best fit to your vehicle and that your vehicle is fit for a safe trip.

If you are presently committed to health and wellness, you’ll discover how some of the things you are already doing positively affect your driving. But chances are everyone will find an area in which they might improve—as well as an opportunity to share some relatively simple actions with friends and family to help them be safer behind the wheel.

In addition to always wearing a seat belt, proper maintenance of mind, body and vehicle can go a long way toward getting you to where you’re going safely.  We trust you’ll find the week to be interesting, informative and most likely even a little fun.

Visit kmm.org and take the pledge to Drive Safe to Work – This week and every week to follow!

 

Post written by trafficsafety.org