[ot-caption title=”Joel Feldman explaining distracted driving during an assembly at Pine Crest School. (via Julia Morrissey, freshman)”]

On Monday, February 29th, Joel Feldman, a member of the organization EndDistractedDriving, came to Pine Crest Fort Lauderdale to educate students on the dangers of distracted driving. After the death of his daughter, Casey Feldman, in 2009, Joel Feldman has spoken in numerous schools to promote awareness and to change his audience’s behavior to combat Distracted Driving.

Feldman and his wife have started EndDD, along with the Casey Feldman Memorial Foundation, to honor their daughter, who was lost to distracted driving. These organizations have been created with the help of Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to develop a persuasive, evidence based program to help this epidemic of distracted driving. Since 2009, which marked the beginning of his campaign, Feldman has spoken to more than 275,000 people in over 40 states. EndDD was even acclaimed in the Governors Highway Safety Association. EndDD’s important message is carried across the country by more than 900 speakers, over three quarters of whom are trial lawyers who are well versed in the issue.

During the assembly, Joel Feldman often employed light humor to ease the teenage-dominated audience. He often connected with his audience through verbal banter, such as “I hate it when people tell me what to do,” to show that his main message is not to try to restrict peoples’ freedom in their own automobile, but for everyone to be aware and attentive at the wheel, thus saving lives. Surprisingly enough, he stated that distracted driving was not exclusively a teen problem, which he backed by facts. This was also reinforced by Feldman’s humorous pop quiz to some faculty members in the audience, all of whom admitted to recently driving distracted.  Feldman also admitted to driving distracted in an effort to show that he is not trying to be condescending, but instead is trying to start a real change.  When he referenced the distracted man who killed Feldman’s daughter while she was crossing the street, Feldman said, “I had done everything he had done,” to exemplify that even Feldman is not resistant to the temptation of distractions while driving.

During the assembly, Feldman asked for students to raise their hands if their parents had, at anytime, driven while distracted.  He did this to reveal to the students that it is not just a teenage problem.  He then countered the plethora of raised hands with, “You don’t have to drive like your moms and dads,” to showcase that each of the audience members had the ability to stand against the status quo and make a difference.

According to Feldman, the best way to combat this epidemic is to follow his steps. If found in a car with a distracted driver, one must use the method of non-confrontational intervention.  Feldman said, “Acknowledge the dangerous behavior, voice your feelings, solve the problem by offering solution.” Two students, Roxy Ackerman and Yani Fabre, were then chosen as volunteers to act out a distracted driving scenario and follow the aforementioned steps.  Overall, the Pine Crest students left the assembly with the realization that anyone can fall victim to distracted driving, and that important steps must be taken to reduce the frequency of these accidents.

Sources: USAToday, Distraction.Gov, EndDD.org