Holding drivers’ attention
Each day, an average of nine people are killed in the United States and more than 1,000 injured by drivers doing something other than driving. The totals—3,300 U.S. deaths and 387,000 injuries in 2011—show that laws in many states banning texting and hand-held cellphone use while driving aren’t getting the job done. Jay Winsten, Frank Stanton Director of the School of Public Health’s Center for Health Communication and associate dean for health communication, thinks it’s time to turn to a higher power: social norms. Winsten and the center hope to reduce distracted driving by enlisting the Hollywood creative community in a campaign against it. Texting and cellphone use will be the main targets, but the campaign also will seek to raise awareness of how anything that takes a driver’s attention from the road — whether programming a GPS device or re-setting a child’s entertainment center — is potentially hazardous. One recent study monitored truckers...