DISTRACTOLOGY 101 AT CHELMSFORD HIGH SCHOOL
June 10-14
 |
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Fred C. Church Insurance Agency Brings Distractology 101™ Tour
to Chelmsford High School to Educate Teen Drivers on
Dangers of Distracted Driving
Mobile Classroom and High-Tech
Driving Simulations Designed to Educate Young Drivers First Hand
Chelmsford, Mass., May 23,
2013 – Fred C.
Church Insurance Agency in partnership with the office of State Representative
Thomas A. Golden, Jr. is proud to bring the state-of-the-art Distractology 101
tour to Chelmsford
High School during the
week of June 10-14. Distractology 101 is an interactive program developed by
the Arbella Insurance Foundation to teach new drivers the dangers of distracted
driving. The campaign features a 36-foot-long, neon-yellow mobile classroom
outfitted with high-tech driving simulators designed to give new drivers the
chance to experience the perils of distracted driving, including texting while
driving.
More than
3,000 people are killed each year in crashes involving a distracted driver and
an estimated additional 416,000 are injured in motor vehicle crashes involving
a distracted driver. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety
Administration, sending or receiving a text takes a driver's eyes off the road
for an average of 4.6 seconds, the equivalent of driving the length of an
entire football field at 55 mph, blind.
“Distracted
driving is a widespread epidemic among young drivers that continues to worsen,
particularly as mobile devices become more prevalent, more advanced and more
addictive,” said John Donohue, chairman, president
and CEO of the Arbella Insurance Group, and chairman and president of the
Arbella Insurance Foundation. “According to the National Highway Traffic
Safety Administration, more than 800,000 drivers are using a hand-held cell
phone at any given moment but only 57% recognize it as a serious threat to
their safety. This lack of awareness and understanding is quite startling. It
is our hope that Distractology 101 will continue to tackle this naivety head on
and force drivers to once and for all break their mobile phone addiction while
on the road.”
To date
nearly 4,000 new drivers, meaning those that have been
licensed less than three years or have a learner’s permit have completed the
Distractology 101 training. In 2012, 97% percent of students surveyed said the
experience was effective or extremely effective and 82% said they would
recommend the experience to a friend.
“In the
last three years Arbella’s Distractology 101 campaign has made enormous strides
in terms of combating distracted driving,” said Herman Laturnau of Fred C.
Church Insurance Agency. “The program’s mission is quite simple: to educate
young drivers of the dangers of distracted driving and ultimately save the
lives of teens living in communities such as Chelmsford. Research has indicated that this
type of real life stimulation and education can truly help to change dangerous
behavior and we at Fred C. Church are proud to support this important mission.”
“Working
with Fred C. Church and the Arbella Insurance Foundation is an eye opener with
the statics on crashes and the senseless loss of lives each year. Life is
short as it is, let’s not make it shorter. Arbella’s Distractology 101 is
driving to educate novice drivers,” said Representative Tom Golden.
The
Distractology driving simulator, based on Arbella-funded research conducted
with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst (UMASS), will travel to
various communities in Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode
Island during 2013, offering 45 minutes of simulated
distracted driving to each participant.
During the
driving simulator training — Distractology 101: A Crash Course on Distracted
Driving — teens and other new drivers face a number
of scenarios based on real-world examples, educating participants on how to anticipate hidden
hazards, react to the road and avoid accidents. Participants also
complete the online portion of the curriculum at www.DistractU.com
and make a safe-driving pledge in order to
complete the training.
To sign up
for the free Distractology 101 training, contact Bill Burbine at Fred C. Church
Insurance Agency at (978)322-7215.
About the Arbella Insurance Group and the Arbella Insurance
Foundation
Established
in 1988, the Arbella Insurance Group (www.arbella.com) is a company with more than $600M in
revenue with approximately $1B in assets, headquartered in Quincy, Massachusetts.
Arbella is a customer-focused regional property and casualty insurance company,
providing personal and business insurance in Massachusetts
and Connecticut, and business insurance in Rhode Island and New
Hampshire. Arbella Insurance Group founded the
Arbella Insurance Foundation in 2004. The mission of Arbella’s Foundation
is to engage in activities and to support not-for-profit organizations that
have a significant positive impact on the people and communities served by
Arbella.
About
Fred C. Church Insurance Agency
Since 1865
Fred C. Church has been focused on providing insurance and risk management
services to businesses and individuals.
Today we are one of New England’s largest privately-owned, independent
insurance agencies with offices in Lowell, Andover, Chelmsford, Dracut, Haverhill, Portsmouth, Tewksbury
and Westford. The agency’s longevity is
a testament to Fred C. Church’s commitment to its employees, customers and the
communities it serves. “It’s not just
the policy. It’s the people.”
# # #
For more
information:
Christine
Williamson
Greenough
617.275.6528
or 617.922.1289 (mobile)
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