By Colleen Rowe

Regardless of the age group an individual represents, being on the phone while driving has proved to be directly connected to fatal or physically detrimental accidents for drivers and passengers. According to a 2013 report by the U.S. National Highway Traffic  Safety Administration: “Distracted driving causes 11 percent of fatal crashes among teens, and 21 percent of those crashes involve cell phones.”

And whom are they speaking with on the phone? More than one-third of teens admit talking on the phone with their parents while driving. And according to the survey organized by cognitive psychologist and president of Parallel Consulting in Petaluma, California, Noelle LaVoie, “Every teen who acknowledged talking on the phone while driving said they talked to parents.”

LaVoie presents the facts: although public awareness campaigns on the outcomes caused by texting and driving have lowered the expectation of fatal accidents, there are still adults who text and use the phone while driving. We need to stop our distraction and encourage nieces and nephews to do the same. It is not only a parent’s job to ask their teens if they are driving while they speak to them on the phone, a task that LaVoie says is necessary for reassured safety, but the aunt's job, too.

“About 2,700 teens aged 16 to 19 are killed each year and another 280,000 are treated and released from emergency departments after motor vehicle crashes,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These are not simply numbers on a statistical chart, but young lives that have been lost.

Bottom line: Make sure your nieces and nephews aren't driving when they call you from their cell.

Published: 8/27/2014