19 May 2010

UN / DISTRACTED DRIVING LAUNCH

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says that driver distraction – mainly through the use of mobile phones- is one of the emerging challenges of road safety. “No SMS is worth an SOS.” Every year, more than 1.2 million people die on the roads around the world, and as many as 50 million others are injured. UNTV / FILE

Posted at: May 19, 2010 4:05 pm

Duration: 02:43

Available in: SD

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STORY: UN / DISTRACTED DRIVING LAUNCH
TRT: 2.43
SOURCE: UNTV/ US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION
RESTRICTIONS: NONE 
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH/ NATS

DATELINE: 19 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

SHOTLIST:

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1.	Wide shot, exterior North Lawn UN building

19 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY

2.	Tracking shot, speakers walk to the podium

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

3.	Close up, camera

19 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY

4.	SOUNDBITE (English) Ban Ki-moon, United Nations Secretary-General:
"I want every driver in the world to get the message: texting while driving kills. No SMS is worth an SOS. The UN is leading by example, that is why I am issuing an administrative instruction aimed at promoting road safety, saving lives and prohibiting all drivers of UN vehicles from texting while driving."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

5.	Close up, reporters' notepads

19 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY

6.	SOUNDBITE (English) Ray Lahood, US Secretary of Transportation:
"During the last few years distracted driving has evolved from a dangerous practice, to a deadly epidemic. In the United States it's an epidemic because everyone has a cell phone or mobile device and everyone thinks they can use their mobile phone or their device and drive safely. Well, we've learned they simply cannot do this. Tragedy after tragedy affirms this fact."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

7.	Close up, reporter's notepad

19 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY

8.	SOUNDBITE (English) Jennifer Smith, President of Focus Driven:
"She was my greatest hero. She was leaving her neighborhood driving through the intersection when a twenty-year-old driver ran a red light, t-boning her car at forty-five to fifty miles per hour. The driver never saw the red light; he never saw the other car stopped at the light; he never even tried to brake. The first thing he said when he got out of the car was he was on his phone and he never saw my mother's car right in front of him."

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

9.	Close up, reporter's notepad

19 MAY 2010, NEW YORK CITY

10.	SOUNDBITE (English) Vitaly Churkin Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations:
"The reason why this particular issue of texting and cell phones is important is that it is a relatively new phenomenon. I mean we've been facing other things for a long time. In Russia, for example, drunken driving is a huge problem, and let me tell you the issue of road safety is a presidential level of attention issue in Russia."

FILE - US DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION – RECENT, LOCATION UNKNOWN

11.	Various shots, accident reenactment

STORYLINE:

United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Ban K-moon joined US Secretary of Transportation Ray Lahood and the US and Russian ambassadors today (19 May) to mark the launch of a global effort to end distracting driving.

The Secretary-General announced a directive barring UN employees from texting while driving UN owned vehicles.

He said that every driver in the world should "get the message: texting while driving kills" adding that "no SMS is worth an SOS."

Drivers who use cell phones are four times more likely to be involved in a crash. Two different studies found this same conclusion, a 1997 New England Journal of Medicine examination of hospital records and 2005 Insurance Institute for Highway Safety study linking crashes to cell phone records.

Lahood told reporters that during the last few years "distracted driving has evolved from a dangerous practice, to a deadly epidemic" noting that "tragedy after tragedy" affirms the fact that the use a mobile phone or device prevents drivers from operating their vehicle safely.

According to Focus Driven, an advocacy group for victims of motor vehicle crashes involving drivers using cell phones, a study showed cell phone users had slower reaction times than drivers with .08 BAC and slower reaction to vehicles braking in front of them.

Jennifer Smith, President of Focus Driven gave an impassioned account of the incident when her mother, who she called her "greatest hero"  lost her life in a crash with a twenty-year-old driver who had ran a red light while using his cell phone.

She said that the driver "never saw the red light; he never saw the other car stopped at the light; he never even tried to brake".

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said that the issue of texting and cell phones is "a relatively new phenomenon" and pointed out that "road safety is a presidential level of attention issue in Russia."

The World Health Organization projects road accidents to be the fifth highest cause of fatalities world wide by 2030, ahead of HIV AIDS and malaria.