Anti-Distracted Driving Program Comes To Marlborough Schools

MARLBOROUGH, MA—This week, the L&S Boule Insurance Agency brings Distractology to Marlborough High School. Developed and funded by the Arbella Insurance Foundation, Distractology was one of the first programs in the country to address distracted driving with young, inexperienced drivers, according to the announcement. Drivers who have completed Distractology are reportedly 19 percent less likely to have an accident and 25 percent less likely to receive traffic violations.

The CDC reports that nine people are killed every hour and more than 1,000 are injured as a result of distracted drivers. Teens have the highest crash rate of any group in the United States. According to new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, new teen drivers ages 16-17 years old are three times as likely as adults to be involved in a deadly crash, said the press release.

“Using your phone while driving triples your risk of a crash and the distracted driving problem keeps getting worse,” said John Donohue, chairman, president and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group and chairman of the Arbella Insurance Foundation, in a statement. “It’s our hope that by working together with new drivers, educators and parents, we can once and for all break the addiction so many drivers have to their mobile phones and create a new generation of safe drivers who believe distracted driving is unacceptable.”

Distractology features a mobile classroom outfitted with two high-tech driving simulators designed to give new drivers the chance to experience the perils of distracted driving. Simulations are based on real-world examples, including texting, posting to social media sites like Facebook and Snapchat, and changing the radio all while navigating residential and highway conditions. This year, Arbella debuted a new scenario which prompts students to take a selfie behind the wheel. In 2016, there were more than 70,000 Instagram posts tagged #DrivingSelfie, #SelfieWhileDriving, #HopeIDon’tCrash, and other driving selfie-related hashtags.

To date, more than 13,000 new drivers, meaning those that have been licensed less than three years or have a learner’s permit, have completed the Distractology training, with 96 percent willing to recommend it to their friends.

“Over the past seven years, Arbella’s Distractology campaign has made enormous strides in terms of combating distracted driving,” said Joe Santos of L&S Boule Insurance Agency in a statement. “The program is proven to decrease accident rates for participating drivers through education and hands-on training and we’re proud to support Distractology’s important mission.”

Information and photos submitted by Distractology