NegligentDriving.com

NegligentDriving.com is a website that was launched in March 2007 as part of a PR campaign for the American Beverage Institute (ABI). "Traffic safety," the ABI claims, "needs a bigger fix than keeping abusive drinkers off the road."

The focus of the ABI's PR campaign is to deflect attention away from introducing stricter blood alcohol standards and onto other driving factors as the cause of fatalaties. In the media release announcing the new campaign Sarah Longwell stated that "now that we've had such success in the war against drunk driving, we need to turn our attention to the dangers of distracted driving." (Longwell works in PR for lobbyist Rick Berman, his Employment Policies Institute and the Center for Union Facts, both front groups for individuals and industries opposed to union activities.)

In its laucnh media release, the ABI outlined the factors that it considered more important than reducing the blood alcohol content (BAC) standard. In its release it argued that:


 * Distracted driving is the number one killer of American teens. Alcohol-related accidents among teens have dropped, but because distracted driving is on the rise, teenage traffic fatalities remain unchanged.
 * While over 90% of teen drivers say they don't drive drunk, nine out of 10 say they've seen drivers distracted by passengers or using cell phones.
 * A drowsy driver, or even one going ten miles faster than others on the road, is more dangerous than one who is legally intoxicated.
 * More than 80% of drivers admit to hazardous behavior while behind the wheel including: reading, changing clothes, steering with feet, painting nails, and shaving.
 * Drivers on cell phones are more impaired than drivers with a .08 BAC level."

However, in their media release the ABI did not cite what studies they were referring to.

Contact Details
Phone: 202 463 7110 Website: http://negligentdriving.com