There’s one issue that District 9 Hamilton County Commissioner Chester Bankston sees every day; one that has touched families in every part of the Chattanooga area: distracted driving.
Each year, distracted driving causes about a quarter of all car accidents in the United States, the National Safety Council reports. In 2015 alone, 3,477 people were killed and another 391,000 were injured in distraction-related crashes, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration revealed.
In an effort to help curb such statistics locally, the Red Bank Police Department is expanding its new distracted driving prevention program, offering to make presentations in schools, companies, churches and communities all throughout the Chattanooga area.
Late last month, an officer from the department spoke to Hamilton County’s Advisory Council on Traffic Safety, for which Bankston is the chair.
Sgt. Rusty Aalberg stands next to the logo for Red Bank Police Department’s new distracted driving prevention program. The logo was created by Red Bank High School student Mya Kennebrew, who won the design contest orchestrated by officers and the school’s art teacher. (Staff photo by Myron Madden)While texting is often the culprit in such incidents, Sgt. Rusty Aalberg reminded ACTS attendees that cellphones aren’t the only danger. Any activity that takes commuters’ attention away from the act of driving is considered a distraction, he said. That includes eating or drinking, applying make-up or adjusting on-board entertainment systems like the radio while behind the wheel.