Texas Strategic Highway Safety Plan

Distracted Driving
Distracted Driver on the phone and drinking coffee

Distracted driving is a growing concern in Texas.

Home —  Emphasis Areas —  Distracted Driving —  Strategies —  Strategy 3 —  Test the effectiveness of using personal stories/tragedies to impact teens and middle school students’ behaviors when driving distracted
Test the effectiveness of using personal stories/tragedies to impact teens and middle school students’ behaviors when driving distracted
Steps For Implementation
  1. Develop a list/inventory of programs and/or personal stories available to this age group. These include programs offered in recent years (e.g., presentations by Tyson Dever given in 2016–2018) and other personal stories that could be offered and/or pursued in the future.
    (Participating organizations: TxDOT and TTI)
  2. Summarize available data for existing speakers (e.g., attitudinal/awareness surveys conducted by TTI in association with Tyson Dever presentations, 2016–2018).
    (Participating organizations: TTI and TxDOT)
  3. Identify new partners and sponsors by reaching out to coalitions, corporations, sub-grantees, state agencies, or anyone with common interests.
    (Participating organizations: TxDOT and marketing vendor)
  4. Explore other means of spreading these personal (true) stories throughout the state. These could include integration into an annual statewide marketing campaign for distracted driving, social media, and/or other cost-effective digital sharing.
    (Participating organizations: TxDOT and marketing vendor)
  5. Evaluate the program more thoroughly, especially in areas where presentations on this topic have been made multiple times by one or more speakers. Measure changes in awareness, attitudes, and behaviors. Analyze distracted-driving crash data.
    (Participating organizations: TTI and TxDOT)
Participating Organizations

See above for each step.

Effectiveness
Feedback
from
young
students consistently indicates that true personal stories of this nature (as opposed to mock crashes, ghost-outs, etc.) have a much more effective and lasting impact on their attitudes and behavior.
Cost to Implement
$$$$$
Time to Implement
Short
Medium
Long
Barriers
  • Limited funding available for evaluations.
  • Biases. Most data and/or assessments are survey-based and may have biases.
  • Difficulty in tying these interventions to reductions and changes in crash frequency or severity (e.g., cause and effect).