Expert ADVICE
Tips for Parents of Young Drivers (And All Drivers)
Jake Rodar
President / CEO Reynolds + Rodar Insurance Group Inc. 400 Kiva Ct. 505.983.4353 www.ReynoldsInsurance.com
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t’s no secret that young, inexperienced drivers are involved in automobile accidents more often than others. Among clients of Reynolds + Rodar Insurance, for example, drivers under the age of 25 have reported claims 52 percent more frequently than other members. Unfortunately, improper cellphone usage can increase the risk of both experienced drivers and younger drivers alike. In an average year, nearly 5,500 people are killed and 450,000 are injured in crashes involving distracted driving. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that cellphone use is the most common distraction leading to car crashes, and that drivers under the age of 26 are more likely to be using a cellphone while driving than older drivers. BE SMART. Don’t text or talk on the phone while you drive. No conversation, spoken or written, is worth taking your attention away from the road.
BE FOCUSED. Never use your phone to take pictures, send and read email messages, record or watch videos while driving. BE IN CONTROL. You can help your family members resist the temptation to use a cellphone while behind the wheel by installing a cellphone blocking device. BE CARING. Never send a text message to a friend or family member who you know is driving. BE AN EXAMPLE. Don’t send the wrong message to your children by texting while driving. This is especially important if you have a teen driver in the household. They will follow your example. These are all things we have heard before, and yet the problem still exists. The best way to prevent cellphone use while driving is by installing a cell blocking device. These are simple to use devices that plug into a car and prevent the driver’s phone from being used to text, email, surf the web, or make phone calls whenever the car is in motion. One that we recommend is Cellcontrol. Some of the features of Cellcontrol are: • Stops texting, emailing, web surfing, gaming and distracting phone calls whenever the car is in motion.
• Easy to use web-based portal allows you to: • Whitelist numbers of your choice, such as your own, to allow select incoming calls while driving. (Calls to 911 are always allowed.) • Select which, if any, phone apps can be used while driving. For example, you may elect to allow use of navigation or music. • Access data on the vehicle’s speed. • Proactively alerts you if the user tries to disable the device. • No buttons to push or programs to start. Cellcontrol works automatically and provides continuous protection, delivering the market’s best “vehicle-and-phone” direct integration. • Compatible with most of the leading mobile devices including iPhone, Android, Windows Mobile, BlackBerry, Symbian and Brew. The technology is available now. For more information please feel free to contact us. Reynolds + Rodar Insurance Group has helped make our clients safe since 1882.