During the spring of 2017, Teens in the Driver Seat (TDS) supported an activity at TDS schools to decrease electronic use among teen drivers and adult drivers who transport students. The activity, Zero Crazy, is in its fourth year and consists of a pre-observation, three weeks of messaging, a post-observation, and a pizza party for schools that completed and returned all observation data. The activity was offered to all program schools. Forty-nine high schools and junior high schools signed up to complete the activity, twenty-eight of those returned all data and received a report of their results and a $100 gift card for their accomplishment.
High school student teams were asked to observe teen drivers and log if they were or were not visibly using an electronic device. Junior High student teams were asked to observe adult drivers and log electronic use. Some combination (junior/senior high) and smaller schools with a small driving population completed the adult observation.
The 2017 data suggests teens are more distracted behind the wheel than adults, which is on par with national statistics. As discovered last year, when we compare schools that have participated in the activity multiple years with first-year activity schools, we found that the multi-year (participated 2, 3, and 4 years) young driver pre-observations were higher than first-year young driver pre-observations. These results suggest regular focus on this risk is resulting in less young driver distractions over time.
Young Driver Multi-Year vs. First Year School Results
(Contains only schools that observed teens in their pre- and post-observations. Weighted average.)
| Pre-Counts | Post-Counts | % Change | |
| First Year Schools | |||
| Sampling | 4,518 | 4,987 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 83.0% | 85.3% | +2.3% |
| Multiple Year Schools | |||
| Sampling | 1,009 | 1,009 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 85.7% | 91.6% | +5.9% |
Texas Results
(Weighted Aggregate)
| Pre-Counts | Post-Counts | % Change | |
| Texas High Schools (teen drivers) | |||
| Sampling | 1,279 | 1,271 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 81.8% | 86.4% | +4.6% |
| Texas Junior High Schools (adult drivers) | |||
| Sampling | 864 | 887 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 93.8% | 95.8% | +2.0% |
Nebraska Results – Teen Drivers
(Weighted Aggregate)
| Pre-Counts | Post-Counts | % Change | |
| Sampling | 545 | 548 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 88.9% | 89.1% | +0.2% |
Colorado Results – Teen Drivers
(Weighted Aggregate)
| Pre-Counts | Post-Counts | % Change | |
| Sampling | 385 | 414 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 97.0% | 95.5% | -0.5% |
State Farm School Results – Teen Drivers
(Weighted Aggregate)
| Pre-Counts | Post-Counts | % Change | |
| Sampling | 98 | 100 | |
| Drivers Displaying No Electronic Use | 64.0% | 97.0% | +33.0% |
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