The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's (NHTSA's) $5 million campaign to remind drivers about behind-the-wheel distractions kicks off today as part of a team effort, an administration official said in a news release.
NHTSA's eighth annual "U Drive. U Text. U Pay." campaign involves "safety partners nationwide" to remind drivers about cell phone use and other distractions, the administration's news release issued earlier this week said. The campaign runs from April 7-11.
National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Deputy Administrator Dr. Steven Cliff
| nhtsa.gov/
"By working with law enforcement and local communities, we can educate and empower drivers to put the phone down and focus on the road," NHTSA Deputy Administrator Dr. Steven Cliff said in Monday's release. "No one should lose their life because of a text message. In working with localities and law enforcement, NHTSA is also helping ensure that these distracted driving enforcement efforts are conducted in a fair and equitable way."
Cliff has been NHTSA's deputy administrator since February of last year and was nominated by President Joe Biden in October, and again in January, to be administrator, according to The White House and Congress,gov. The Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee advanced Cliff's nomination by voice vote in February but Cliff has yet to be confirmed, Safety & Health magazine reported. NHTSA has been without an administrator for more than five years.
The annual "U Drive. U Text. U Pay." campaign targets online audiences between the ages of 18 and 32. A portion of the campaign includes law enforcement educating those they pull over for distracted driving about the dangers and risks that can befall motorists and others. Roughly 29,000 people died in crashes that involved distracted driving from 2012 to 2020, according to the release.
In 2020 alone, crashes related to distracted driving accounted for 13% of all injury crashes and 3,142 deaths nationwide, the release reports.
Text messaging for all drivers is banned in 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U.S. Virgin Islands but texting and other forms of messaging still "remain some of the most pervasive forms of distracted driving," the news release said.
The campaign encourages drivers, among other things, to pull over and park if they are expecting a text message or need to send one, or to ask a passenger to be the "designated texter." The campaign also reminds drivers they should not be engaging in social media scrolling or messaging while at the wheel and that their phones should be set to "do not disturb" and/or placed elsewhere in the car and out of reach.
"Be an example to family and friends," the news release said. "If you see someone texting while driving, speak up."
