General Motors (GM) works with GHSA to reduce distracted driving by providing research and resources to State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs).
General Motors (GM) and GHSA are collaborating to reduce distracted driving by providing research and resources to help the State Highway Safety Offices (SHSOs), their partners and other highway safety stakeholders combat this persistent but preventable problem.
GHSA and GM have provided more than $400,000 in grants to states to implement promising approaches to fight distracted driving.
Through support from GM, GHSA partnered with Youthcast Media Group (YMG), a nonprofit that trains high school and college students from underserved communities, more than 95% of whom are youth of color, to write about and report on overlooked health and social issues such as traffic safety.
YMG worked with high school student journalists to highlight data illustrating the extent of the problem and show the personal toll of distracted driving through profiles of victims and their families. YMG youth developed a digital toolkit that includes social media posts that SHSOs and their partners can use to engage with 16- to 24-year-olds.
GHSA held a webinar in September, 2024 to share the success of the grant programs in Washington and the District of Columbia and discuss the Youthcast Media Group Distracted Driving Project.
Download the presentations:
Dr. Janine Koffel (Washington Traffic Safety Commission)
Presley Connor (District Department of Transportation)
Jayne O'Donnell (Youthcast Media Group)
Peer-to-peer messaging is an effective way to persuade others. For 2024, GHSA’s membership and staff reached out to their peers to change the social norm around distracted driving. GHSA members and staff posted videos sharing why they choose to be distraction-free and encouraged others to post videos as well.
The campaign was a tremendous success garnering support from dozens of members and many partner organizations including FCCLA, Laser Tech, Youthcast Media, SADD, Intoxalock, NRSF, National Safety Council and The Wise Drive. To view all of the videos check out the YouTube Playlist below, or click here.
Cellphones are a huge part of our lives, from the moment we wake up to the time we fall asleep. Unfortunately, our addiction to cellphones means that distracted driving is incredibly pervasive – and deadly – on U.S. roads.
Research indicates that it takes as little as 30 days of doing the same thing every day to make it routine. In April 2023, GHSA and GM encouraged all drivers to take a break from their phone whenever they get behind the wheel, with the goal of forming a lifelong safety habit.
In 2022, GM supported the publication of an action-oriented, recommendation-rich report that takes a new look at distracted driving. The report includes a summary of the current distracted driving challenges; what the latest research tells us about risks, prevalence, public opinion and policy; the efficacy of distracted driving countermeasures; and what states and other highway safety entities are doing to address this problem.
Read the personal story of Steve Keifer, founder of The Kiefer Foundation and former president of General Motors International.
