Risky trend: #DrivingSelfie
A disturbing trend has been hitting the roadways: people taking pictures of themselves while driving for the purpose of posting on social media, aka, the driving selfie. In fact, popular social media photo platforms are currently experiencing alarming numbers of posts related to “driving selfie” activity. As part of its ongoing commitment to vehicle safety, Ford would like to remind drivers that any distraction that diverts attention from the task of driving, eyes on the road and hands on the wheel, can be dangerous.
This new phenomena has instructors from Ford Driving Skills for Life addressing the problem as part of the program’s regular curriculum of teaching safe driving habits in an attempt to reduce the possibility of distraction.
- Drivers should minimize distractions when they are driving by waiting until they’ve reached their destination or pull off at a safe location to operate a hand-held mobile device.
- As a passenger, speak up if you witness a driver failing to properly concentrate on driving.
- According to NHTSA, teen and 20-29 year old drivers are over-represented in distraction-related fatal crashes associated with cell phone use.
- NHTSA has also indicated that hand-held cell phone use while driving (e.g., the only way to take a “driving selfie”) is much less safe as compared with hands-free use. Ford’s SYNC and MyKey technologies are specifically designed to provide drivers (and parents of teen drivers) the capability of tethering their cell phones to the vehicle’s in-vehicle voice-activated telematics and information system and limiting cell-phone activity while driving.
