I’ll start some basic traffic cop math. At 60 miles per hour, you are traveling about 90 feet per second (fps) — it’s actually 88 fps, but Patrolman X is a big rounder. So let’s say you take your eyes off the road to check a text, even a quick one, for three seconds. You just traveled 270 feet without looking at the road! That’s a problem, folks, but it gets worse. According to a United States Department of Transportation study, if you are actually texting, you take your eyes off the road for an average of 5 seconds. You can do the accident reconstruction math on that yourself…

Graphic by Liberty Mutual Insurance

So, given that there were over 3,000 fatalities nationwide last year that were due to distracted driving of some kind, as well as the fact that more teenagers are killed in car accidents than any other single cause, getting teens off the phone should be a priority. If you’re a parent, you probably already know this, but did you know that 86% of teenagers admit to using a cell phone while driving, and as much as 49% admit to texting.

To be fair, adults are distracted by their devices, too, but the behavior is much more prevalent among teens. So much so that Delaney Ruston, a mother, physician and filmmaker, devoted an entire documentary to the subject.

Called Screenagers, the film follows parents and kids who are trying to navigate the influences of the digital world. The film shows just how tough this can be by pointing out that teens spend an average of 6.5 hours a day looking at a screen, and that doesn’t include schoolwork.

Photo from Screenagers Twitter page

Parents aren’t alone in this struggle. Police officers and educators are working on it too, but it’s important to understand just how powerful a connection teens have with their devices.

To get an educator’s perspective, Patrolman X talked to retired middle school Principal, Mrs. P (Mrs. P wanted some privacy, so her full name isn’t used). Mrs. P, who had been in the education business for 30 years, said 80% of her 900 students had cell phones, and they essentially obeyed the rules of use when at school. But off campus, the phones were always out. This included videoing after-school fights, and, of course, cyber bullying. Mrs. P’s point- kids can’t put the phones down. Whenever a teacher or school resource officer challenged them, the video started rolling.

Though a separate issue than distracted driving, this propensity in teens to “film first” has manifested itself in contacts with law enforcement on a regular basis, and it can be dangerous.

An officer in Patrolman X’s own squad recently had an experience that illustrates this danger. When the officer tried to pull a car over for speeding, the 18-year-old driver decided to flee because he didn’t have a license- a dangerous move in the first place. A brief chase ensured before the driver crashed, luckily with no injuries. The officers conducted a “high-risk” stop, which is standard procedure after a pursuit. This involves pointing of guns and giving clear commands to the occupants of a car so they can be safely taken into custody. Scary stuff for anyone, especially a young person, but everyone who flees gets the same treatment, and thousands of these types of stops end safely every year. The two younger passengers complied with commands and were quickly handcuffed. The driver, though, had taken out his smart phone immediately after crashing. He raised it at the officers to video the stop- again scary stuff, as we can easily imagine how such a move could go wrong in a stressful situation. Luckily, the officer kept his cool and walked up to the teen and took him into custody without a struggle.

But this was dangerous all around for the officers and the teenagers, who, at the end of the day, were just being dumb kids. They weren’t criminals, and they weren’t resisting after the crash, but this young driver’s first reaction in this situation was to video the officers with his phone. And he just wouldn’t stop.

Senior Deputy Shawn Holzberger of the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department agrees that kids can’t seem to put the phones down. As a supervisor of school resource officers at 22 schools, Shawn says his deputies are always met with video recording when they break up a campus fight or deal with a rowdy student. And the new drivers are constantly on their phones while driving through the school parking lots. To help teens drive a bit safer, Shawn’s deputies conduct Start Smart training, just as California Highway Patrol Officers teach throughout the state. But Shawn acknowledges that cops can’t do it alone.

“Parents need to be the example too,” he said, “Half the problem is the parents doing the same thing. Parents need to talk to kids.”

And, as a parent of two pre-teen daughters, he already monitor’s his older girl’s iPod Touch to ensure she is using it properly, and not overusing it.

Mrs. P thinks parental involvement is key. Her granddaughter signed a distracted driving contract with her parents, and Mrs. P believes she obeys it. This is partly because the young lady knows the consequence for violating the contract- a parental impound on the car- and because her parents take a trust-but-verify approach by monitoring her activity on her phone. (The unlucky teen happens to have a father who is developing his own cell phone app, which can do just that.)

As an educator, Mrs. P also believes in the power of kids to teach each other, and even their own parents, once they believe something themselves.

“If they learn something in school,” she said, “it impacts their parents as well. Kids are honest. They’ll call them on it. Peer to peer is more powerful. Sadly, sometimes [it takes] a tragedy or near tragedy.”

CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow

CHP Commissioner Joe Farrow recognized the importance of a holistic educational approach in a public service message for this year’s distracted driving campaign.

“The possibilities for distraction are only getting worse,” said Farrow, “This should be a sobering thought for any parent, or anyone else with teens in their lives. We all must be the best example we can for our newest, most vulnerable drivers.”

If California’s top traffic cop says this is a problem, parents, and their driving-age kids, should listen.

Until next time, Home Sweet Homeland readers, stay safe and keep your kids safe!

This is Patrolman X going 10–10, out of service.

Psst!

Want a spooky glimpse into just how wired into screens today’s teens are? Take a look at this video by Volkswagen on “The Verge.”