Just Put It Down.

Better to learn why in a simulator than from experience out on the road.

Distracted driving can be deadly, particularly to teens. In fact, motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 cause of death for U.S. teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and drivers ages 16 to 19 are four times more likely than older drivers to crash.

But thanks to a $25,000 grant from State Farm Insurance, teens around the state will have access to a new tool to learn about the dangers of distracted driving.

In Ohio, 48 counties offer the 4-H CARTEENS program, a safe-driving intervention program coordinated by OSU Extension's 4-H Youth Development Program. Of those, 38 counties participated in the State Farm grant that purchased the "BRDrivingSimExm" simulators to use in CARTEENS.

The driving simulators, which consist of software that connects a computer screen with the simulator's steering wheel, accelerator and stick shift, offer 28 different distracted-driving scenarios in both urban and rural settings.

Wood County CARTEENS began using the simulator last year.  "When they sit down behind the wheel, they act like it's a video game," Roth said. "But there are so many different scenarios with the simulator, and when you add the Fatal Vision Goggles (used to simulate different blood alcohol levels), and add texting -- they see pretty quickly that they just can't drive that way."

James L. Jordan, Extension educator based in Butler County, examined the effectiveness of 4-H CARTEENS last year as part of his Ph.D. program. More than 8,400 Ohio teens participate each year in 4-H CARTEENS, which is taught by teenage volunteers primarily to first-time juvenile traffic offenders. Most of the teen instructors have gone through 4-H CARTEENS program themselves; they're mentored by juvenile court judges, Ohio State Highway Patrol officers and 4-H youth development educators.

No. 1 Risky Driving Behavior

"My research showed that distracted driving was the No. 1 risky driving behavior, even more than speeding," Jordan said. "The teens performed some type of distracted driving about 30 times a month -- whether it was texting, playing with the radio, horsing around with other people in the car, eating, putting on makeup, even shaving. It's surprising the stuff people -- not just teens -- do behind the wheel of a car. And since teens are very inexperienced drivers, they're particularly at greater risk."

Learn More