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Resolutions too often are hollow, devoid of conviction and tenacity. Look at empty gyms in February. Ask a smoker.
We Clan of the Car members should resolve to save lives. How? You've heard the chant from this pulpit before, and now it echoes from Oprah and Dr. Phil. It is the growing debate over distracted driving, particularly among newly minted young drivers.
I'm not alone in wanting to save lives behind the wheel. Tom Coyne is a soldier standing shoulder-to-shoulder with me. He's the father of triplets, two boys and a girl, whom he cherishes and wants to protect as best he can. It terrifies him to see kids talking on cell phones, oblivious to the speeding physical world around them.
Coyne knows the statistics. Traffic crashes are the single greatest cause of death among teenagers in the United States. He knows that about 300,000 are injured in car crashes each year. As a small- business owner, he lives with astronomical medical costs. He knows that nearly 45,000 people die in car crashes annually, with between
6,000 and 8,000 youths age 25 and younger finding their final fate in a car.That is why distracted driving is stupid, stupid, stupid behavior. =93Everybody's doing it=94 is not a legitimate answer. Really, there's no reason to have a six-ounce phone glued to your ear when a 4,000-pound car is attached to your brain.
What flabbergasts me is the 18 percent number. That's the measurable diminished capacity of your brain when you're on the phone or, God forbid, trying to text. Think about that: With distracted driving, you slice off one-fifth of your computing power and go on your merry way.
Unfathomable.
Like those of us at AW, Coyne shares these statistics with every parent, every child and anyone who will listen. He recites the gospel: Don't text and drive, because if you do, you will die.
So profound is his belief that Coyne, who owns a marketing communications firm, developed on his own nickel some extraordinarily arresting public-service messages to that effect. Do you remember the =93This is your brain, this is your brain on drugs=94 ad campaign? Well, Coyne's message is equally powerful and memorable. You might have seen it on page 47 of the February 22nd issue of AutoWeek magazine. Good, it got your attention.
We at AutoWeek could not agree more with Coyne's mantra. We are doing what we can to keep kids safe on the road. And if that includes graphic, in-your-face images in the pages of this magazine, we're all in.
How can you help? Show the ad to your child or grandchild. Show it to your neighbor's kid. Spread the word. Become a safety nag. Pull over to the side of the road to make a phone call. Don't text while driving.
Whatever you have to say can wait. Unless it's good-bye.
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