Distracted Walkers Awareness Teen Safety Committee
LISTEN UP TEENS! SAFE DRIVING SAVES LIVES PROGRAM!
Distracted Walking Observation Introduction
With the increased use of cell phones and other electronic devices, an understanding of the relationship between safety and distracted drivers and pedestrians is needed to:
(a) understand the role distraction plays in pedestrian safety, and
(b) identify ways to improve safety at crosswalks and mid-block crossings.
Objective: To change the habit of distracted walkers with your friends and peers.
Activity Brief:
Step 1: Perform field observations at your school by observing real walking behavior and counting the students who are using an electronic device or are visibly reading something while walking. A distracted walker is visibly using or holding their phone, a music player, or any other electronic device in their hand while walking. (pre-observation)
Step 2: Do some activities and messaging around your school to let these walkers know the risk they are taking by walking distracted. We will provide ideas and resources to help you do the messaging.
Step 3: Perform another field observation to see how many walkers you shifted into not walking distracted. (post-observation)
Step 4: Return all your observations for official recognition and community service hours.
Additional Information:
What are field observations? Field observations are a way to find out how many people are engaging in an act. In this case, you will be observing walkers and taking count if they are or are not visibly using an electronic device while walking. In this activity, you will be performing two field observations – pre- observations before you do messaging and activities, and post-observations after you’ve completed messaging and activities.
Why two field observations? The idea is to do pre-observations to get a baseline of walker’s behavior. This lets you know how many people are walking distracted and how big the problem is in your community. After your team does some messaging and activities to let your walkers know they are being distracted while walking, you’ll want to know if you made a shift in their behavior, so you complete a post-observation to find out.
What happens to the data? These field observations will help Dori Saves Lives study the problem of distracted walking among teens and find ways to help prevent it. We need to know what you see and how you are helping keep your classmates safe by conducting this project right in your own community. When you complete the entire activities and send us the observation data, we will crunch some numbers, do some comparisons and send you back a report with how your school did.
What do you get in return? Not only do you get to be a part of a great activity, you also get official recognition and community service hours.
Sign Up for the Distracted Walkers Activity Now!
* This activity is only available for High School students.
Change the habit of distracted walkers with your friends and peers. Sign up using the form below and get started with your observations!
