Each year more than 3,000 teens, ages 15-19, are killed on American roads according to government statistics. This staggering statistic has prompted automakers to develop teen driving programs to combat the number one reason for teen driver accidents - distracted driving.

Ford has developed the “Driving Skills for Life” program with the intent of educating young drivers on safe driving skills. The program focuses on four key areas that account for about 60 percent of all crashes involving teens: driver distraction, speed-space management, vehicle handling, and hazard recognition. This program gives students the opportunity to get hands-on training behind the wheel of the car. (About Driving Skills for Life.)

Mercedes-Benz USA has also developed a teen driving program to teach teenagers the skills and competencies for safe and enjoyable driving. The Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy implements policies to increase driver’s safety such as the Graduated Drier Licensing (GDL) rules. The GDL framework combines classroom or online learning with on-road training, mandatory supervised practice, and restricted driving privileges once a novice driver starts driving alone. (About the Mercedes-Benz Driving Academy.)

More information about teen driving programs.

Sept. 17 is Two-Second Turnoff Day for Mobile Phones from Seventeen

It’s no secret that distracted driving has been a growing problem in the U.S. Although much has been done in cities and states across the country to prevent the unsafe practices of talking and texting while driving, people are still involved in accidents daily because of distracted driving.

Some startling facts from the U.S. Government Website for Distracted Driving:

• In 2008, slightly more than almost 20 percent of all crashes in the year involved some type of distraction. 
• Nearly 6,000 people died in 2008 in crashes involving a distracted driver, and more than half a million were injured. 
• Younger, inexperienced drivers under 20 years old have the highest proportion of distraction-related fatal crashes.
• Drivers who use hand-held devices are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves. 
• Using a cell phone while driving, whether it’s hand-held or hands-free, delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent, which is the legal limit in many states.

YouTube Video Contest

Recently the Department of Transportation, Seventeen magazine and AAA have joined forces in an effort to combat distracted driving by co-sponsoring a viral video challenge to raise awareness of the issue. The contest is centered on Seventeen’s Two-Second Turnoff Day, which is scheduled for Sept. 17. The idea of Two-Second Turnoff Day is that it takes two seconds or less to get into a crash, and by taking two seconds to turn off your cell phone before getting into the car, you can prevent the crash from happening altogether.

The contest, aimed at teen drivers, asks that participants shoot their own public service announcement against distracted driving, post it on YouTube and share it with their friends. Those who wish to participate have until Sept. 10 to sign up and submit their PSAs. The winner of the contest will receive $2,000, have his or her video posted on Seventeen.com, AAAexchange.com and distraction.gov, as well as have it featured at the Distracted Driving Summit on Sept. 21 in Washington.

Visit Seventeen.com for contest rules.

Today, April 30, is National No Phone Zone Day, which has been established to help bring an end to using cell phones while driving.

No Phone Zone Day is being championed by none other than Oprah herself, who has taken up the campaign to stop texting while driving. She is not alone in taking up this cause. Groups like FocusDriven and the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers are also champions for "no phone zones" in cars.

And, why? It's estimated that nearly 500,000 people are injured and 6,000 are killed each year because drivers are using cell phones - calling, texting, or e-mailing - while driving.

As part of Oprah's No Phone Zone campaign, she is encouraging drivers to sign a pledge about how much of a "no phone zone" their car will be. The pledge options are:

• I will not text while I am driving.
• I will not text while driving and will use only handsfree calling if I need to speak on the phone while I am driving.
• I will not text or use my phone while I am driving. If I need to use my phone, I will pull over to a secure location.

If you’re interested in signing the No Phone Zone pledge or finding out more about distracted driving, below are some links for you.

• Oprah’s No Phone Zone site and pledge form.
• FocusDriven wants to end distracted driving.

Where do you stand on this issue? Visit our Forum to join the discussion.