Citation

Linden PL, Endee LM, Flynn E, Johnson LM, Miller CA, Rozensky R, Smith SG, Verderosa C. Health Promot. Pract. 2019; ePub(ePub): 1524839918824322.

Affiliation

Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Society for Public Health Education, Publisher SAGE Publishing)

DOI

10.1177/1524839918824322

PMID

30701986

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Distracted driving is a major public health issue in the United States. In response to requests from high school students participating in a university-based initiative, the authors describe the collaborative development and implementation of a curriculum designed to address distracted driving behaviors among students in four high-needs school districts in the northeastern United States.

METHOD: The curriculum integrates current statistics on distracted and drowsy driving and three interactive learning stations: driving while distracted, walking while distracted, and driving while drowsy. Pre- and postsurveys were conducted to collect student driving data, assess student satisfaction with the program, and assess their likelihood of speaking up as a passenger in a high-risk situation.

RESULTS: The majority of students reported that they learned new information and would recommend the program to others. A Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed that students were more likely to speak up as a passenger with a distracted or drowsy driver (p <.001) after the program.

CONCLUSION: This experience demonstrates a voluntary, multidisciplinary, university-based collaboration in the development of a novel public health education initiative. Based on the success of this phase, school districts elected to participate in Train the Trainer sessions to continue the program within their local high-needs school district.

Language: en

Keywords

Train the Trainer; distracted driving; driver safety; high school–university collaboration; high-needs; school-based curriculum; teen safety