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Message to Young Distracted Drivers: "Just Drive"

When teens get behind the wheel of a car, there's really only one thing ITD asks them to do: Just Drive.

It's the slogan – and the heart – behind a recent distracted driving workshop the Office of Highway Safety put on at Boise State University Feb. 24. There, project manager Lisa Losness spoke to a group of high school student councils members about the importance of attentive driving.

"They are only 6% of the drivers, but they are causing 15% of the crashes. That's kind of an eye-opener to realize they are causing more than would be expected."

As Larry the Crash Test Dummy points out,that makes teens 2.5 times more likely to be in a crash. But it's nothing new for teens to hear a negative message like don't drive distracted. Which is why Lisa frames her talk in a more positive light.

"Just be attentive. It's not 'don't text and drive.' It's 'let's be attentive.' So it's kind of a different spin on the same message we really want to get out."

Lisa hopes the student leaders will be empowered by this message and take it back to their friends and help create a culture of positive driving habits.