Texas Teens and Parents Tackle Distracted Driving Dangers During Allstate Road Course

IRVING, Texas, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Orange cones will fly across Texas as teens and parents test their skills behind the wheel during Allstate's Family Driver Challenge. This special obstacle road course, designed to show the dangers of distracted driving, is taking place in Dallas (September 13), Austin (September 16) and San Antonio (September 21).

During the Family Driver Challenge, professional instructors take parent-teen teams through advanced driving tests, involving distractions such as phone calls, texting and rowdy passengers. With each added distraction, the course will become more difficult.

"Driving today is completely different than just a few years ago," said Joe McCormick, Corporate Relations Manager of Allstate's Texas Region. "With cell phones, MP3 players and other smart devices, we are constantly multi-tasking, but it shouldn't be done while driving."

After completing the Family Driver Challenge, Texas parents and their teens will place their thumbprint on a large banner, symbolizing their family pledge to keep their thumbs-up and off the phone while in the car.

Allstate is hosting the Family Driver Challenge in 38 cities across the United States with the goal of helping to reduce the numbers around some alarming statistics concerning distracted driving.  According to the National Highway Traffic and Safety Administration:

• Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver.
• Driver distraction contributes to 25 percent of all police-reported traffic crashes.
• Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.
• Car crashes are the number one killer of American teens, killing thousands each year and injuring hundreds of thousands more.

The Family Driving Challenge includes parent participation since safe driving habits need to start at home.  According to a recent study by the Allstate Foundation, almost 90% of the teens surveyed said their parents were the biggest influencers on their driving habits.

"Teens are watching what their parents are doing while driving and it influences their behavior," said McCormick. "This is why it is so important for parents to put down their phones, limit their distractions and overall, set a good example in the car for their teens."

Allstate Insurance Company encourages safe driving practices among all drivers.  Allstate also supports a federal graduated driver licensing law called the Safe Teen and Novice Uniform Protection (STANDUP) Act – H.R. 1895 – which was introduced in Congress in April 2009. If passed, the bill creates uniform GDL standards across all 50 states. To learn more about the STANDUP act visit www.saferoads4teens.org. For additional resources on protecting teen drivers, including an interactive parent-teen driving contract, visit www.allstate.com/teen.

About Allstate

The Allstate Corporation (NYSE: ALL) is the nation's largest publicly held personal lines insurer. Widely known through the "You're In Good Hands With Allstate®" slogan, Allstate is reinventing protection and retirement to help more than 17 million households insure what they have today and better prepare for tomorrow. Consumers access Allstate insurance products and services through Allstate agencies, independent agencies, and Allstate exclusive financial representatives in the U.S. and Canada, as well as via www.allstate.com and 1-800 Allstate®.

SOURCE Allstate