The artist who drew this picture of a car hitting a tree is Michele Garcia Robles, a junior at Chaska High School. She leads that school’s Shreya Foundation’s Distraction-free Life Club. “I had family and friends who got into bad car crashes,” she said. “(The program)…

By: Ava Chen   Speeding on our roadways, distracted driving, driving while impaired are all prevalent problems in our society. During the last year, this problem has only gotten worse due to the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, in 2020, people drove less due to the pandemic, but an estimated 38,680…

After a long day of work, you tiredly get in your car, with your only thought being to get home and crawl into bed. You pull out of the parking lot and enter the streets, lost in your thoughts. After what feels like a few moments, you pull onto your driveway with no recollection of…

One type of Cognitive Distraction found on the road that is not talked about enough is fatigued driving, or drowsy driving. Fatigued driving occurs most commonly occurs when a driver has had less than 7 hours of sleep in the past 24 hours. It can also be caused by extended work hours, strenuous work or…

One second is all it takes to cost a life. A moment of distraction can result in dire consequences which can be easily avoided if the driver is cautious enough. There are three different kinds of distraction that a driver can face: visual, manual, and cognitive. Visual distractions occur when one looks away from the…

Can perfectly constructed self-driving cars stop the majority of crashes? By conventional thinking, you would think the answer is yes. Why wouldn’t a car programmed to drive like a superhuman not be able to avoid an accident?     90 percent of crashes are caused by human error. That’s why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) and…

Since the early 1970s, American cars have featured ADAS, or advanced driver-assistance systems. ADAS are technological features that are designed to increase the safety of driving a vehicle, and their goal is to eliminate human error on the road. While ADAS have massively increased in popularity over the past couple of decades, their incredible promise…

People always assumed we would have flying cars in the near future that would be entirely mechanized, saving humans time and effort while providing maximum efficiency for travel. Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems are a definite step towards that direction. Advanced Driver-Assistance Systems (ADAS) are defined as any technological feature that is designed to increase the safety…

Construction and work zones near or on roads have been susceptible to reckless drivers for years. Last year, the COVID-19 pandemic entailed a decrease in road traffic, which sparked the idea that there would be safer working environments for construction workers. However, over the past year, numbers in work zone crashes are continuing to increase.…

It’s no surprise that during the pandemic, people became more attached to their phones. We were bored, stuck at home, and anxious for a way to communicate with the outside world. However, this attachment slowly became deadly as people exited their homes and entered their cars.   As the streets cleared and few drivers took to…

Laws dictate a large portion of how we live our lives, and it isn’t any different when it comes to driving. They are meant to protect us from the unknowing dangers out there and to maintain a stable and safe environment. As distracted driving laws fall under the jurisdiction of the individual states, the laws…

It’s no secret that the COVID-19 pandemic has forced everyone to change how they go about daily life. One example of this comes with the rise of Zoom meetings as an alternative to physical meetings. Over the last year, Zoom has become an incredibly popular application for meetings with work colleagues, friends, and family across…

The COVID-19 crisis came like a storm, claiming the lives of millions around the world and impacting even more. In its wake, the pandemic influenced almost every single aspect of people’s daily lifestyles as they hunkered down at home while the storm passed. COVID-19 didn’t just bring about the deaths through the impacts of the disease but…

This Sunday from 5:00 to 10:00 pm at Round Lake Park, Eden Prairie teens will star in the big 4th of July celebration.  Fifteen year old singing phenom Allie McIntosh will lead the music, starting at 7:15 pm. Another group of stand-out teens will promote the attractions of a distraction free life to their peers.  Their…