Resources: April Is Distracted Driver Awareness Month
Originally published by: National Safety Council — April 1, 2021
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Thank you for joining NSC in recognizing Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Use these resources to create or enhance a distracted driving program to engage your workforce, share safe driving messages, and help keep your roadways and people safer. These step-by-step instructions will help you make the most of your distracted driving materials.
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Through April 1
- Resources: Download and review your Distracted Driving Awareness Month materials below.
- Social Media Kit: Get ready-to-use social media posts and images to engage with your social community about the risks of distracted driving. Social media graphics are customized for Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. Use the hashtag: #JustDrive in all your posts. Download the social media kit.
- Proclamation: Work with your local, county or state government to declare April Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Get the Proclamation template and the Proclamation how-to guide.
April 1-9
- Commit to driving distraction-free by taking the NSC Just Drive Pledge: More than 700 people are injured in distracted driving crashes each day. Encourage all employees and their family members to take the NSC pledge to drive distraction-free. Take the Pledge.
- 5-Minute Safety Talk and accompanying PowerPoint presentation: Use this safety talk and accompanying presentation to kick off a meeting and help educate your co-workers about the risks of inattention blindness. Grab a blindfold to really drive this point home. Download the Safety Talk and the PowerPoint presentation.
- Posters: Print and display posters in common areas or share them digitally to raise awareness of distracted driving risks. This week, focus on the three steps of starting a safe drive and why “just” isn’t an excuse to drive distracted. Get the posters here and here.
- Infographics: Share infographics on workplace TV monitors and online to catch the attention of employees and keep safety on their minds. This week, put the focus on in-vehicle distractions and the risks of hands-free phone use while driving. Get the infographics here and here.
April 12-16
- Posters: Print and display posters in common areas or share them digitally to raise awareness of distracted driving risks. This week, bust some multitasking myths and explain the basics of copilot rights in the car. Get the posters here and here.
- Infographics: Share infographics on workplace TV monitors and online to catch the attention of employees and keep safety on their minds. This week, continue the conversation on multitasking myths and ask, “Who’s driving, you or your car?” Get the infographics here and here.
- Quiz: After engaging your workers with the above poster and infographic on multitasking myths, put their knowledge to the test with a quiz on these risks. Download the quiz.
- Videos: Share a video with your co-workers on how to safely set up for your drive before you depart, and share a video about the dangers of distracted driving. Watch How to Set Up Your Drive and Cici's Story.
- Twitter Chat: Participate in the Distracted Driving Awareness Month Twitter Chat at 1 p.m. CST on April 14. Join NSC and others on Twitter to answer questions about distracted driving, ask your own questions about roadway safety and engage with other organizations focused on keeping their workers safe on the road. Use the hashtag: #JustDrive21 in all of your posts during the chat.
April 19-23
- E-blast reminder: Driving distraction-free is a lifelong commitment. Attach the below posters in an email to employees and link to the NSC distracted driving pledge.
- Fact sheet: Keep your teams engaged and give them a greater understanding of distracted driving issues with this fact sheet. Share it in common areas where your workers can look it over and increase their knowledge. Download the fact sheet.
- Put the “social” back in social: Encourage employees to comment on and share your organization’s distracted driving posts. Link employees to the above NSC social media toolkit and keep these conversations going all month long by urging them to join with their own channels.
- Posters: Print and display posters in common areas or share them digitally to raise awareness of distracted driving risks. This week, keep the focus on two simple tasks: phones down and eyes on the road when behind the wheel. Get the posters here and here.
- Infographic: Share infographics on workplace TV monitors and online to catch the attention of employees and keep safety on their minds. This week, share an infographic to show how state laws have changed over the last decade to address distracted driving risks. Get the infographic here.
April 26-30
- Safe driving policy: Use this tool to implement your own safe driving policy or to upgrade an existing policy in your organization. Be sure your policy addresses concerns over distracted driving, speeding and aggressive driving, impaired driving, and seat belt use. Reserve space at the end of your policy for employee acknowledgement, with signature required. Download the policy template and policy guide.
- Hot cars and distraction: Distraction can have deadly consequences even when it doesn’t lead to a crash. Encourage your co-workers to take the free NSC Children in Hot Cars training.
- Report: In “Understanding Driver Distraction,” NSC presents research behind recommendations to ban the use of cell phones and in-vehicle technologies while driving. Download the report.
- Online Defensive Driving Courses: Consider NSC Defensive Driving Online Courses to motivate and educate your employees to be safe, responsible drivers. View courses.
- Posters: Print and display posters in common areas or share them digitally to raise awareness of distracted driving risks. This week, highlight the dangers of eating while driving for your workers. Check out more free safe driving resources from Our Driving Concern.
- Child passenger safety training: A recent NSC survey found that parents are less likely to drive distracted with their children in the car. Help your workers keep their young kids safe with this free Car Seat Basics eLearning.
- DriveitHOME: Distractions are especially dangerous for new drivers. Help your workers protect the teen drivers in their lives with free resources, including weekly practice lessons and a parent-teen driving agreement that can get parents and teens on the same page about the expectations for a safe driver. For more great tips, visit nsc.org/DriveitHOME.
- Call for zero traffic deaths: Show your support for safe roads by signing onto the Road to Zero Coalition’s call for zero traffic deaths. Add your name here to call on the White House to commit to zero. To get more engaged in this effort, join the Road to Zero Coalition.
- ChecktoProtect: Right now, 55 million vehicles on the road have open recalls, but they can repaired for free at a dealer. Don’t let a recall be another distraction for your workers. Encourage them to visit ChecktoProtect.org.