April 2021: Distracted Driving Awareness Month
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April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. This is a great time to reflect on our driving behaviors and pledge to make good choices in the car, both for safety and to be good role models for our passengers. While phones are a common distraction, adjusting the radio, picking up dropped toys, putting on makeup, and even eating and drinking takes your attention away from the road.
Not only does driving distraction-free help prevent car crashes, but it shows the children and teens in the vehicle that you take safety seriously. Show your children how safe driving is done by following these tips:
Pull over and park your car in a safe location if you need to send, read, or respond to a text.
Give your passenger the phone. The “designated texter” can respond to texts, calls, and choose the music.
Checking your phone can be a hard habit to break. If you’re struggling to resist texting or scrolling through apps while driving, try putting the phone out of reach in the trunk or back seat for safe keeping until you arrive at your destination.
Remind children and passengers that you need to pay full attention to driving. If you need to make an adjustment to the radio, or deal with food, drinks, or dropped toys mid-trip, pull over.
Find more resources on distracted driving in our toolkit and on NHTSA’s webpage.
Toolkit Outreach Week: April 19th – 25th
Just in time for spring, we are hosting an outreach week April 19th – 25th, 2021 using our upcoming toolkit on lawn mower safety. Lawn mowers send thousands of children to the emergency department every year with serious cuts, burns, and amputations, so it’s important to keep young children away from lawn mowers when they are being used. Our toolkit materials will be available soon, so keep an eye on your inbox for our announcement.
One Year of Newsletters
This month we celebrate one full year of Prevent Child Injury monthly newsletters! We appreciate your support throughout the past year and are looking forward to another year of newsletters. If you would like to submit an event or announcement to be featured in one of our newsletters, please send an email to info@preventchildinjury.org.
Take Action
Every month, we are promoting a new action that each family can take to keep their children safer. This month, we want every family to save the Just Drive pledge from National Safety Council. Make the roads a little safer for you, your family, and other drivers by pledging to drive distraction-free. Take the pledge here.
Follow along every month for a new action, and share with us how you're preventing child injury in your home!
Coming Up
On Our Twitter Calendar
March 29 - April 4: National Youth Sports Safety Month
April 5 - 11: National Window Safety Week; National Public Health Week; World Health Day
April 12 - 18: Distracted Driving Awareness Month
April 19 - 25: Outreach Week: Lawn Mower Safety
April 26 - May 2: National Playground Safety Week
Events
Twitter Chat: Distracted Driving Awareness Month
Hosted by: National Safety Council
Date/Time: April 14th, 2021 from 2 - 3PM EST
Participate in the Distracted Driving Awareness Month Twitter chat at 2 p.m. EST on April 14th. 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.
Trainings: Media 101, Media 201, Social Media
Hosted by: Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital
Date/Time: Multiple dates available for each training
The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital is hosting three online workshops for public health professionals over the next few months. Trainings include: Media 101: Beginner’s Guide to Working with the Media, Media 201: Mastering Your Messaging and Owning Your Interview, and Social Media: Public Health in the Digital Age. Each training is a one-day, four-hour online workshop. Discounts are available for attending multiple trainings. CHES credits available for some trainings. Click here for details and to register. Space is limited, so we encourage you to register now. Please email Laura.Dattner@NationwideChildrens.org with any questions.