Living with the Pain of Distracted Driving
Sentinel Device Designed to Combat Growing Problem
RIDGELAND, Miss., May 11, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Elissa Schee knows the devastating effects of distracted driving–and the pain of living with its consequences.
Her daughter, Margay, was tragically killed nine years ago in Florida when the driver of a semitrailer truck hit the school bus in which Margay was a passenger. The truck driver, just momentarily, had focused his attention on his cell phone rather than the road. The truck was traveling 60 miles per hour at impact and the violent collision caused the bus to erupt in flames.
The number of fatalities from distracted driving – particularly texting while driving – has spiked in recent years.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's statistics for 2015 (the most recent statistics available) showed 3,477 automobile deaths and 391,000 injuries occurring in automobile accidents attributed to distracted driving. And the staggering numbers are getting worse every year.
"Everybody has a phone and most people drive. This issue has far surpassed drunk driving as a danger to everyone on the road," said Schee. "It's not just texting. For me, it's any distraction by a cellular device period."
An ever-increasing problem is teenagers texting while driving. A recent report from the American Automobile Association says that distracted driving is a factor in 60 percent of accidents involving teenaged drivers.
The issue will be in the spotlight in the coming weeks as America enters the 100 Deadliest Days, the ominous label for the period of summer when students are out of school between Memorial Day until Labor Day.
One product to help combat teen texting while driving is Sentinel, which teaches drivers to turn their phone off (or to airplane mode) before driving. Similar to a seat belt chime, the driver receives an audio warning that cellphone use has been detected. At the same time parents can remotely monitor their teenage drivers' cellphone use as well as the automobile's speed, location and if driven past curfew hours. For a parent, it's almost like being a passenger with your teen driver.
Sentinel is superior to any app. An app can only monitor one phone. Sentinel monitors the automobile for ALL phones. Studies show passenger cell phone use also distracts the driver. With Sentinel, your teen driver's automobile can become a "No Cell Phone Zone".
Parents are never out of touch with their teen drivers, even when the teen's phone is turned off or in airplane mode. Using Sentinel's message system they can alert the driver to pull over to a safe location, turn on his/her phone and check for messages.
"Sentinel was developed to change teenage drivers' behavior while at the same time provide parents valuable data as well as peace of mind," said Sentinel executive Stephen Stewart. "Sentinel can be easily installed within minutes and ensures the driver is paying attention to the road and not to his/her phone or the phones of passengers."
Schee has a teenage son who is starting to drive and she says Sentinel will be part of his driving experience.
"I love the Sentinel device," she says. "It absolutely will be in his car."
To find out more, go to www.drivewithsentinel.com.
SOURCE Sentinel
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