These statistics are just part of the reason that government agencies and even AT&T are getting involved in trying to combat distracted driving. Below are two games that our staff has found that parents of teens or even we as adults can use to encourage safer driving and putting our cell phones down while we travel. Here are the games:
- The Distraction Dodger is an online game designed to help teens and young adults understand the importance of concentrating on driving. It was designed by students at University of Minnesota. Players are put behind the wheel of a mobile pizza delivery vehicle in the pizza-loving city of Little Moots. Drivers deliver to the pizzas to the customer as they stand along side the street. But to be successful, players have to use a variety of tools —a smartphone, social media, GPS, and earned vehicle upgrades while keeping an eye on the roads hazardous situations. Players must also focus to avoid obstacles and obey traffic laws so they don't receive tickets, have a wreck or cause life-threatening crashes. Drivers also at the end of the game get feedback on their driving—and how it is affected by your level of distraction. To play go to: http://www.its.umn.edu/DistractionDodger/. Our staff tried it out and found this one to be a little challenging. But it definitely teaches how dangerous distracted driving can be.
- The New York Times also has a game on their site that measures a driver's reaction time as they are being distracted by a cell phone and their need to text. Our staff found this one very challenging and another solid example of the dangers of distracted driving. http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2009/07/19/technology/20090719-driving-game.html
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