A couple of years ago a school in Georgia asked us to create a “Distracted Driving” Game Show for them. They had a special grant for such activities (Check… you may have them too).
DIstracted Driving Game Show for College and High School Campuses saves lives.
This program could potentially save lives on your campus. We live in a day and age when almost everyone knows someone who has been in an accident because of texting and driving. It’s now the number one cause of automobile accidents.
We combined our hit show “Brain Cell” with specific questions, statistics and fastest finger challenges that made the show a huge hit. In fact, after the show nearly 100% of those in attendance signed a pledge to not text and drive for 30 days! That’s right, 100% of the people who left the show pledged to not text and drive for a full month! That’s a successful program! Each person who signs the pledge is given a link to free music, audiobooks and more, as well as their very own “I took the pledge” button.
While this show tackles a heavy subject, we do it in a way that is fun, humorous and competitive – without trivializing the subject matter. Active involvement in the show the entire time gets kids actively learning the subject matter in a way that no lecture can compete with.
Some of the statistics that students will learn (and type into their phones) are:
- Your risk of collision increases by up to 400% when talking on a cell phone while driving.
- If you look at your phone for 5 seconds, driving at highway speeds, you can travel about 100 yards, the length of a football field! A lot can happen in that time.
- 95% of those surveyed answered that they know it’s dangerous to text and drive, but 60% of college aged respondents admit that they still do it.
While we focus on getting students to understand the true risks of texting/talking and driving, we also explore other distractions such as eating, doing make up, playing with a pet, smoking, drinking and more.
One of the challenges we have is to pick contestants who come up on stage is the first 4 people to text the message “Distracted Driving is statistically more dangerous than drinking and driving” to our phone number – they come up on stage. Days later, as students are scrolling through their text messages – they’ll see their own words reminding them not to text and drive!
We mix in traditional Brain Cell questions with those designed to drive home a point, then share a message of personal loss from Texting and Driving.
Our distracted driving questions are culled from information provided by the US Department of Transportation, assorted insurance companies and other research, combined with common sense and suggested strategies for being a responsible driver.
The final challenge of the night is to get everyone to sign a pledge that they will not text and drive for 30 days. It’s a simple pledge to make and it gives you a measurable indicator of the success of the program on your campus. Everyone who signs the pledge is given a prize and studies show that taking a pledge predisposes someone to actually follow through on the action that they pledge to do.
It’s fun without trivializing the importance of the message, it’s informative without being preachy. It’s a perfect addition to your existing program to combat distracted driving, and, in many cases, it will qualify for national, state and local grants for education on the subject. We’ll even work with you to make sure it will qualify. This means that with a little work, you may be able to get someone else to foot the bill to bring Brain Cell to your campus!
Check with your local/state DOT offices to see if funding is available. Insurance companies are also sponsoring similar events.
Discounts are available for multiple shows in a common geographical area.
As parents and as the friends of people who have lost their children we are passionate about this subject and this show. We truly believe it makes a difference.
Give us a call or fill out a form to get more information today!
