On Monday morning, an assembly at Lower Cape May Regional High School started out with a question from Doug Burke of Burke Motor Group: “Over this past weekend, who texted while driving or was in the car with someone who did?” More than half of the hands in the audience went up.
There is an issue among many drivers, and that issue is distracted driving. According to Burke Motor Group, distracted driving includes texting, eating and drinking, using the navigation or sound system, talking to a passenger and personal grooming. Of these, texting is the most dangerous, making one 800% more likely to have an accident.
Burke Motor Group is determined to solve this issue with the Driven to Action (DTA) program, which was presented to students of Lower Cape May Regional High School this past Monday, Nov. 16. DTA is a police-endorsed, comprehensive program targeted at keeping students and the community safe through offering incentives to students for safe driving. Students are required to take the pledge which promises to not drive distracted and to obey all traffic laws. After taking the pledge, students receive a DTA ID card which entitles them to perks from local businesses who have partnered with Burke Motor Group. The Lower Township Police Department is also a partner in the program – if students get pulled over, they must surrender their ID card.
To relay the seriousness of distracted driving to the students, members of Burke Motor Group played several games that demonstrated how difficult and life-threatening multitasking while driving can be. One game invited five volunteers on stage and required them to hold five balloons while sending a text. Only one of the five students was successful – the other four dropped their balloons.
At the end of the assembly, students took out their phones and took the pledge via mobile site, bringing the community one step closer to safety on the roads.
Francey Burke of Burke Motor Group stated, “We sell cars, and we want to make sure the students driving them are safe. And that’s how the program got started.”
Peter Daly, Vice Principal of Lower Cape May Regional High School, added that he feels the DTA program is a great companion to the existing driving program the school already has.
Students are encouraged to use the hashtag #DTA on social media to get the word out and encourage other teens to drive safe. For more information on DTA and to take the pledge, visit eventsbyburke.com/dta.
Cape May – Governor Murphy says he doesn't know anything about the drones and doesn't know what they are doing but he does know that they are not dangerous. Does anyone feel better now?
