Distracted Driving – Helping to Halt the Problem
Distracted driving has become one of the most major causes of serious automobile accidents in the United States. According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 80% of automobile accidents involve driver inattention.
Eating, drinking, applying makeup, and the use of GPS are all distractions that have contributed to this
astounding number of accidents. The use of mobile phones behind the wheel undoubtedly proved to be
the biggest problem. Texting while driving is 6x more likely to cause an accident than drunk driving.
According to the study conducted by Cambridge Metrics Telematics (2017), 75% of drivers see other
drivers on their phones every day. Alarming statistics as such, prompted V.F. McNeil Insurance, a
Trusted Choice® independent insurance agency located in Branford, Connecticut, to propose the idea of
a distracted driving awareness campaign to its branding partner Trusted Choice®.
“From my own experience, I can support the disturbing fact that 75% of drivers use their phones while
driving just from what I see on the road each day,” stated Pauline Handy, V.F. McNeil’s Marketing
Director. “The last straw for me was during my morning commute to work one day when I was almost
side-swiped by a distracted driver. Alongside of me, at a traffic light, this female driver who just missed
me, was steering with her knee, while holding a Coke® in one hand and a mobile phone in the other.
Sadly, a small child also sat in the back seat of this driver’s car. The fact that I witnessed this occurrence
makes me nervous to drive each day.”
Handy approached Trusted Choice® about constructing a campaign that would be customizable to any
insurance agency across the nation. “The insurance industry is in a perfect position to make an impact
on this problem. If we all do our part, hopefully we can make the same impact that drunk driving
campaigns have made over the years.” Trusted Choice® has spearheaded the communication for this
campaign.
The fully customizable campaign is now available to all Trusted Choice® independent insurance agents.
V.F. McNeil Insurance continues to promote the campaign throughout the spring and early summer of
2018 when driving increases on roadways.