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.