Public service announcements can help reduce distracted driving by educating the public about the dangerous consequences of behaviors such as texting while driving. PSAs reach wide audiences through television and social media and use celebrities to spread their message. However, some drivers, especially teens, believe they are exempt from the risks. Distracted driving causes thousands of deaths and injuries annually. Combining strict laws, enforcement, and effective public education campaigns through PSAs can change unsafe driving behaviors.

1. Skylar Arias
Assessment 7.08 Revising Argument
May 6, 2014
Can a Public Service Announcement (PSA) Help Reduce the Number of Distracted Driving
Incidents?
Public Service Announcements assist in reducing the number of accidents caused by distracted driving.
They do this by educating and raising awareness of the serious, sometimes fatal consequences of this
dangerous driving behavior. Not only do they address the texting issue, but also the many other forms of
distractions such as eating; putting on makeup; changing radio stations; adjusting the gps; etc. Public
Service Announcements can reach a large varied audience by utilizing not only television, but the internet
and social media. They also use well-known, respected celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey and cast
members of the popular show Glee to spread their important message. The most difficult challenge the
distracted driving advocates face is getting their messages across to teenage drivers who are particularly
vulnerable and involved in ten percent of distracted-driving fatalities and thirteen percent of police-
reported crashes resulting in injury (2). These young drivers’ attitude “it will never happen to me” is very
often difficult to change (1).
Most of us have a tendency to believe that we can safely manage to multitask while driving, despite
knowing the dangers that taking our eyes off the road, even for five seconds can result in. Distracted
driving is the cause of thousands of fatalities and hundreds of thousands of injuries each year (3). The
U.S. Department of Transportation National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that there
are at least 3,000 deaths and an additional 416,000 injuries annually attributed to distraction-affected
crashes (3). Studies confirm that texting, which involves manual, visual, and cognitive distractions is
among the worst of all driver distractions with more than 100,000 drivers texting during daylight hours
and more than 600,000 drivers holding phones to their ears while driving (4).
The Department of Transportation has fought and continues to fight for tougher laws, strict enforcement,
and increased public awareness to assist in combating this deadly epidemic. National media campaigns

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such as “Click It or Ticket” and “Phone in One Hand, Ticket in the Other” confirm that combining strict
laws with effective enforcement and strong, widely- publicized public education campaigns do change
unsafe driving behaviors (3). In addition, the department launched a national public service
announcement called “Stop the Texts, Stop the Wrecks” which has been seen by millions of Americans
and they created a Federal web site (www.distraction.gov) that provides the public with comprehensive
resource information and ways to become involved in the fight against distracted driving (3).
In an effort to assist in reaching a more extensive audience, Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood and
well-known companies such as Toyota, Seventeen Magazine, and ESPN have joined in high-profile
public awareness campaigns. Two of the more celebrated campaigns are Oprah Winfrey’s “No Phone
Zone Day” in which she dedicated an entire episode of her popular daytime talk show to this issue and
Regal Cinema, who agreed to air a distracted driving public service announcement featuring cast
members from the show Glee before each movie (2).
Unfortunately, despite all the efforts that are in place, public service announcements; strict laws, and
education, there will still be drivers who continue to make dangerous choices while on the road. Many,
especially younger drivers age 16-25 have the attitude that “this will never happen to me” or “I’m a
careful driver, I know what I’m doing”. Secretary LaHood states in an article called “Taking on
Distracted Driving” “If there is any good news here, it is that we know there are proven strategies to help
us deal with this. Decades of experience with drunken driving have taught the Nation that making
progress takes a consistent combination of education, effective enforcement, a committed judiciary, and
collective efforts by local, State, and national advocates” (3). Public service announcements play a huge
and intensely important part in educating and making drivers in all parts of the world aware of the dangers
of distracted driving and its life-changing, sometimes deadly consequences. I know after researching and
viewing the many videos regarding families and people affected by distracted driving, my family and I
have made the promise to pay more attention to the road while we are behind the wheel. It IS a matter of
life and death.

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WORKS CITED
Lennon, Ron, Dr. "USF Research Study: Sarasota-Manatee." Social Marketing and
Distracted Driving Behaviors among Young Adults: "The Effectiveness of Fear Appeals"
N.p., 07 June 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Leone, Kelly. "September/October 2010Vol. 74 · No. 2." Taking on Distracted Driving.
Department of Transportation, Sept. 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Aldana, Karen. ""Stop the Texts, Stop the Wrecks"." . Department of Transportation,
1Jan. 2012. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. <http://www.distraction.gov/download/campaign-
materials/8747-811629-060712-v5-Opt1-Web-tag.pdf>.
O'Donnell, Christopher. "Deter a Texting Driver? Here's What Not to Do."
HeraldTribune.com. N.p., 08 June 2010. Web. 24 Apr. 2014.
Sorensen, Eric. "Fear of Death May Curb Youthful Texting While Driving, Study Shows."
ScienceDaily. Washington State University, 26 Feb. 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.