Today, Sept. 17, young drivers nationwide are pledging to take two seconds to turn off their cell phones before getting behind the wheel. This is part of National Two-Second Turnoff Day – the culmination of a distracted driving awareness campaign from AAA, Seventeen magazine, and the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).

"Taking your eyes off of the road for two seconds doubles your risk of a crash or near-crash and National Two-Second Turnoff Day is an opportunity for young drivers nationwide to take control of their own safety behind the wheel by making the wise and responsible decision not to drive while distracted," said Kathleen Marvaso, AAA vice-president of public affairs. "National Two-Second Turnoff Day is a reminder to drivers of all ages that they should keep their eyes and attention on the road while driving at all times."

In an earlier post, we told you about YouTube Video Challenge to Combat Distracted Driving. Click here to watch the winning video that nabbed teen Emily $2,000 from Discover and AAA.

More about the Dangers of Distracted Driving (from a recent survey by AAA & Seventeen)

• Almost nine in 10 teen drivers (86 percent) have driven while distracted, even though 84 percent of teen drivers know it's dangerous.
• 60 percent have talked on a cell phone and 28 percent have sent a text message while driving. 
• Teen drivers who text while driving reported sending, on average, 23 text messages while driving in the past month.
• More than one-third of teen drivers (36 percent) believe they have been involved in a near-crash because of their own or someone else's distracted driving.

To help your teen – and maybe even yourself – learn about the dangers of distracted driving, there are a number of web resources out there, including TeenDriving.AAA.com.

What do you think of distracted driving awareness campaigns like this?

What do you tell your teen about cell phones and driving?