Denair High School students standing near the intersection of Lester Road and Monte Vista Avenue on Thursday found that their presence meant little to dozens of local drivers.
The students, who are members of the school’s Friday Night Live program that helps build partnerships for positive and healthy youth development and engages youth as active leaders and resources in their communities, spotted 137 drivers being more focused on texting, talking on the phone, eating, reaching for objects, personal grooming amongst other things rather than focusing on the road ahead and being aware of their surroundings during the busy morning.
The observations were made during Denair High’s data collection for Roadwatch, an action research project administered by the California Friday Night Live Partnership (CFNLP). The CFNLP organizes Roadwatch as an annual opportunity to drive home the importance of eliminating distractions while driving among adult and teen drivers.
Denair students were compelled to participate in the youth-led data collection effort to improve traffic safety in their neighborhoods. They were the only school in Stanislaus County to submit data to the CFNLP.
The top distractions reported by the Denair students were:
- Use of a handheld device (such as a cellphone): 34 incidents
- Talking to passengers: 18 incidents
- Eating or drinking: 11 incidents
- Personal grooming: 9 incidents
- Loud music: 9 incidents
- Reaching for an item: 6 incidents
- Smoking or vaping: 3 incidents
- Holding pets on laps while behind the wheel: 2
"I was shocked to see so many distracted drivers and hope to expand the area for another assessment towards the end of the year,” said FNL member Macie Stucker.
The final Roadwatch 2024 report that combines data gathered by FNL clubs from across the state lists handheld phone use (859 incidents) interacting with passengers (767 incidents), hands-free phone use (519 incidents) and eating/drinking (486 incidents) as the top distractions across the state.
Distracted driving, which includes anything that takes your eyes, hands, or mind away from the task of driving, is a major concern for Californians and was reported as the biggest traffic safety concern in a statewide 2021 Public Opinion Poll. For youth in California, this issue is especially pertinent. Among drivers ages 15-20 involved in fatal crashes, 6% were distracted at the time of the crash. Distracted driving not only affects those behind the wheel, but also those who share the roadways. The National Highway Traffic Safety Association found that in 2022, over 18% of people killed by distracted drivers were not in vehicles, but pedestrians, pedal cyclists or otherwise outside vehicles.
Local law enforcement has offered reminders to drivers to always be focused on the road and aware of their surroundings, especially around schools.
