The sun is finally here to stay!

Hello everyone, Mae here again.

The sun has finally decided to stay over the Palouse. Just in time too with finals week peeking around the corner. Washington State University finals week starts this upcoming Monday and University of Idaho finals start next Monday the 7th. With classes wrapping up we can expect heavy travel between the Pullman/Moscow and the west side of the state. This means State Route 26 is about to see its annual summer traffic. To everyone who is traveling, please be sure to check route conditions, weather advisories, and traffic delays. There are projects going on that may cause delays. Be sure to visit our website www.safepalousedrivers.com to see all the info you need in one place including live traffic cams and live news feeds from Washington State Patrol and Washington State Department of Transportation. The office will be wrapping up driver safety week and Distracted Driver Awareness Month by announcing the winning contest submissions on Wednesday the 2nd.

Be sure to like and follow us on facebook at facebook.com/safepalousedrivers/
For more information about driver safety tips, route planning, weather, or alerts between the Palouse and Western Washington besure to visit our website at www.safepalousedrivers.com

Its so nice outside here in Pullman that everyone at the office decided to soak up the 81 degree sun

Distracted Driver Awareness Week comes to a close.

Hey everyone, Mae here. 

Distracted Driver Awareness Week was a good run but there were also a few things that we learned and will improve on next time. We visited Clarkston high school, Pullman high school, University of Idaho, and Washington State University. The table that was held at University of Idaho was pretty nice, being outside in sunny weather was a welcome change to all our rain, snow, and wind. Even with finals and Mom's Weekend prep happening, students managed to find time to visit our table and talk to us about safer driving habits.

On Saturday, we held our table at Washington State University during their SpringFest event. However, not before making an appearance at the WSU PD Car Show. There were some real lookers there. We got to speak with the officers, talk to local community gear heads, and meet with two university auto clubs. The Automotive Enthusiast Club, and Formula SAE club. SpringFest was very alive with students. We had a few groups take our Poster Contest fliers and some brochures before the table was wrapped up. All in all, we had around 25 pledge sign ups and 18 contest entries by Saturday.

Outside of Palouse Driver Education Campaign events, there was a BBQ on Sunday as part of the Automotive Enthusiast Clubs last meet of the school semester. I attended as both a car club member and a presence of the campaign. We thank and appreciate all the local businesses, school clubs, and community members who have become involved with us as advocates for safer driving habits.

Remember, our poster contest doesn't end until Noon on Friday the 27th. Be sure to check out our facebook to enter for the chance to win a $25 visa gift card. Also, be sure to like and share our page.
www.facebook.com/safepalousedrivers/

Driver Safety Awareness Week Success

April is Distracted Driver Awareness month, so us at the Palouse Driver Education Campaign thought it'd be appropriate to deem it Driver Safety Awareness Week from April 16th to 21st.

Our office traveled around the Palouse area, from Clarkston to University of Idaho, on a mission to educate and communicate with the community. The participation we got was fantastic, and we enjoyed hearing people talk on bettering their driving habits and pledging for distracted-free travels.

While the safety week may be over, our poster contest is continuing until April 27th at noon, so if you're interested in winning a $25 Visa card, click the following Facebook link for further details: http://ow.ly/1Vnc30jDA6R  

Distracted Driver Awareness month and Driver Awareness Week

Hi everyone, Mae here.

This week has been another eventful one. Since Mom's weekend, we have been planning our tables for the local high schools. On Monday, we visited Clarkston high school. we went to Pullman high school on Tuesday. There were quite a few students coming to the table. Oh yeah, we also started a poster contest just for the driver awareness week. There were some great submissions from Pullman high school already.

The rest of this week will be occupied with visits to University of Idaho, and Springfest at WSU. Be sure to come and find us. We will be at the entrance to Springfest on Willson Road. We will be cooperating with Formula SAE and the Automotive Enthusiast Club. Depending on the weather, we will have a racing game set up that people can enjoy and play.

Here are photos of our time at the Pullman high School.

We had great success this Mom's weekend

Hey everyone, Mae here.
This Mom's weekend as many of you know, the PRTPO and Palouse Driver Education Campaign did its first ever wrecked car staging as a display against distracted driving. We have great success in terms of all the attention that the car brought (maybe a bit too much?). If anyone took any pictures of the car please tag us by using #PalouseDEC. We saw many families stop and look at the signs we had up, apologies to the woman who was brought to tears by the messages, but that is exactly the response we want. An impactful, personal, emotional response that will remind people that the dangers of distracted driving are real. To all of you who were fortunate enough to get your hands on the "It can wait" decals, please be sure to tag us on facebook and twitter with where you stick them. We may have more at our next event.

During our Friday booth, we were asked a few questions, they will now be answered.










Q: Who's car is this and why is it here?
A: The car was donated for use by Fire District 12 and McKeirnan's Auto Repair. The tow was donated by Auto Body Super Center. These are all local businesses who have agreed to help us get the word out that distracted and drowsy driving is dangerous. The purpose was to stage a wrecked car with messages so people would correlate the wreck with distracted driving to send a harder more memorable message to all who see it.



Q: Isn't this going a bit far to send a silly little message?
A: If the message of safe driving is "Silly" then it proves the need for this display. According to the NHTSA, distracted driving has claimed the lives of 3,477 people in 2015 and injuring almost 400,000 people. In my mind, the display worked if people were touched emotionally. I did see some people who were offended. From what I heard in their conversations "I drive better with peace of mind knowing that I replied to all my messages. I hate seeing the notification lights on my phone while I drive" is exactly the danger other more responsible drivers have to face.













Q: You set the display right across from a bar, what about drunk driving?
A: Yes, Drinking and driving is an epidemic that our society faces. But there are enough very hard-hitting adverts and PSA's for drinking and driving. We wanted to use this opportunity to put distracted driving in the spotlight. Teens do not take distracted driving very seriously because they have not had it impact them directly. You see the repercussions of drunk driving almost every day and many people are already directly affected by it. Without seeing the repercussions directly, they might never learn. Our organization can hold booth after booth to teach younger drivers about the dangers, but they are not interested in booths and pamphlets. Today is the age of multimedia and "seeing is believing". Statistics and charts no longer have the same impact. Trust me, I was a teen only a few years ago, I hate being handed pamphlets and usually throw them away at the nearest bin. I have also suffered the consequences of distracted driving.


Q: Are those text messages posted on the car real?
A: They can be. The ones on the car were doctored by me in an effort to garner an emotional response. But who knows how many countless text messages there are left unsent because of distracted driving. How many people are currently texting phones that can no longer reply back?

I want to thank everyone who came out to see the car, everyone who made an effort to speak to me, and a shout out to the local businesses that helped us out.

McKeirnan's Auto Body and Fire District 12 for donating the car
Auto Body Super Center for donating the tow
WSU Transportation Services for providing the staging area and supplies
WSU and Pullman Police Department for not ticketing and towing the staged car

And a special thank you to all the people who will be making the decision to never drive distracted again because of this display.

If anyone wants more information please visit us at www.safepalousedrivers.fom or search for us on social media under "safe Palouse drivers".

Here are more photos of the weekend display.

Mom's weekend is finally here!

Hi guys, Mae here. This is the first official post to our new blog for the Palouse Driver Education Campaign. Everyone in the office has been hard at work getting ready for the upcoming events here in Pullman. We have Mom's weekend starting tomorrow, Spring Fest two weeks from now, and in between we have our Safe Driver Awareness Week from the 16th through 22nd where we will be visiting local high schools and Universities.

This Mom's weekend we will be staging a wrecked car at our safety informational booth as a stand against distracted driving. As many of our followers know, the purpose of our campaign is to educate young drivers about the dangers of distracted and drowsy driving in an effort to put an end to crashes and fatalities that stem from that behavior. On top of having the car at the booth, we will have a board for students and parents to leave messages and write about their personal experiences with distracted and drowsy driving. We will be sharing our stories as well. So, if you're coming to WSU for Mom's weekend, look for our booth across from Valhalla bar and grill.

Outside of WSU events, here are some updates on what I have been doing. Last week and this week I reached out to local auto repair shops and gas stations in an effort to establish a network of businesses who want to share in our cause. Not surprisingly, every business visited were thrilled to help out. Here are some pictures of where my day took me.

My first stop was the Auto Body Super Center at N 2445 Grand Ave

Next, I visited with Rob and Kirk at The Hive and College Cabs. They were very enthusiastic about helping the campaign. You can find them and their shop kitty at 115 SW Center St.

Here is the shop kitty at The Hive, Be sure to give her lots of pets if you visit

Here are the guys at Pullman Auto Repair at 705 S Grand Ave.

Dylan at Perfection Tire was on board and let us hang the poster wherever we wanted. Be sure to stop by the lobby to see it at 1030 S Grand Ave

Gordon at Heritage Wheel & Tire had no hesitation in wanting to help with the campaign. Sorry about having you stand for the photo, I hope your leg gets better. (Notice the crutches behind him). You can find him at 520 S. Grand Ave.

My last stop was Evergreen Tire at 300 NE Stadium Way. Pictured is one of their mechanics, Damonte. The guys there were quick to hang our poster right up front for everyone to see.

For all the businesses that have helped to extend our network and the campaign goal of safer driving, we thank you. Stay tuned for more updates on whats going on!

I also want to add a very special thank you to McKeirnan's Auto Repair, Auto Body Super Center, and Fire District 12 for helping with the Mom's weekend staged car. They helped us to procure and move a wrecked car to its staging area.

We hope everyone has a fun and safe Mom's Weekend.

Welcome to the Safe Palouse Drivers Live Blogs

Welcome to the Safe Palouse Drivers Live Blogs, this blogging will be used to discuss driver safety, live road conditions, live weather conditions, traffic conditions, community and WSU events that can affect the regional traffic and driver safety. The Palouse Driver Education Campaign is dedicated to helping our region improve driver behavior, roadways, and safety for everyone.