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What hoppin’ with TOADD.org
Events & Press Room
Future Events:
Run 4 Reading 5k Family Run/Walk
April 6, 2013
Annual Safe Summer Block Party
May 2013
Events:
May is Youth Traffic Safety Awareness Month
The 1st Annual Safe Summer Block Party was a blast. Check out the pictures on Facebook: 2012 Safe Summer Block Party Pics
Safe Community, Safe Life!
TOADD.org hopes to raise the awareness of millennials (people 25 years and younger) and their parents to this growing danger and also to act as an information and education center.
Our organization address concerns with the challenges being faced in this fast paced wireless data everybody has a cell phone society. As well as, bring awareness to the distractions, dangers and deaths everyday advanced technologies, like cell phones are causing. TOADD.org , Inc has new millennial social etiquette information for the emerging generation as well as their parents.
We combine texting games + cell phone education to provide Textucation information through seminars, assemblies, speaking engagements, and special events. TOADD.org ’s outreach also includes gathering motivated and concerned citizens to join with us by taking the TADPOLE pledge. TOADD.org pledge is meant to remind us that WE are a part of something larger than ourselves; a mission to educate the millennial generation and
change the future by saving lives.
Press Room:
Safe Summer Block Party 2012- http://www.facebook.com/safesummerblockparty2012
Adventures in Mobile Phone Land Series: Terrence Texter
http://triangle.news14.com/content/in_depth/656941/in-depth–author-marie-antoinette-burrell
TOADD.org In the News
http://crossroadsnews.com/view/full_story/20298144/article-Texting-maven-for-25-book-launch
http://www.sparkplugpeople.com/queen-of-texting-educates-students-about-safe-texting/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDPbnapzUtM
http://thephantomparagrapher.blogspot.com/2012/09/review-terrance-texter-adventures-in.html
WHY
The Problem
Mobile technology, specifically cell phones have many great attributes, along with some negative ones as well. Cell phones have been the catalyst for deadly car accidents, school expulsions and job resignations. Therefore it is our civic responsibility to help protect and preserve our mobile environment. There are over 260 million cell phones users in the United States.
Driver distraction presents a serious and potentially deadly danger. In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in U.S. roadways and an estimated additional 448,000 were injured in motor vehicle crashes that were reported to have involved distracted driving. Distracted driving comes in various forms, such as cell phone use, texting while driving, eating, drinking, talking with passengers, as well as using in-vehicle technologies and portable electronic devices. There are other less obvious forms of distractions including daydreaming or dealing with strong emotions. While these numbers are significant, they may not state the true size of the problem, since the identification of distraction and its role in a crash can be very difficult to determine using only police-reported data. New data sources are available to provide more details on the type and presence of driver distraction.
Visual — taking your eyes off the road
Manual — taking your hands off the wheel
Cognitive — taking your mind off what you’re doing
Distracted driving is any non-driving activity a person engages in that has the potential to distract him or her from the primary task of driving and increase the risk of crashing. While all distractions can endanger drivers’ safety, texting is the most alarming because it involves all three types of distraction.
Other distracting activities include:
- Using a cell phone
- Eating and drinking
- Talking to passengers
- Grooming
- Reading, including maps
- Using a PDA or navigation system
- Watching a video
- Changing the radio station, CD, or Mp3 player.
Police-reported data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and the National Automotive Sampling show that:
- In 2009, 5,474 people were killed in crashes involving driver distraction (16% of total fatalities).
- The proportion of fatalities reportedly associated with driver distraction increased from 10 percent in 2005 to 16 percent in 2009. During that time, fatal crashes with reported driver distraction also increased from 10 percent to 16 percent.
- The portion of drivers reportedly distracted at the time of the fatal crashes increased from 7 percent in 2005 to 11 percent in 2009.
- The under-20 age group had the highest proportion of distracted drivers involved in fatal crashes (16%). The age group with the next greatest proportion of distracted drivers was the 20- to-29-year-old age group – 13 percent of all 20-to-29-year-old drivers in fatal crashes were reported to have been distracted.
- Of those drivers reportedly distracted during a fatal crash, the 30-to-39-year-old drivers were the group with the greatest proportion distracted by cell phones. Cell phone distraction was reported for 24 percent of the 30-to-39-year-old distracted drivers in fatal crashes.
TOADD is committed to partnering with others to ensure that these cell phone users contribute to building a healthier mobile environment. To date TOADD has reached over 100,000 individuals. Through the TOADD program we are gearing to reach 80% of cell phone users.
The Need
TOADD recognizes the need for formalized training and teaching awareness programs that directly address the issues of inappropriate cell phone usage, behavior and consequences. This includes educating the public and especially our children about sexting, cyberbullying and for the young driver, distracted driving education.
The average age for receiving a mobile device is age nine or ten. TOADD believes in early education on the safe uses of mobile technology. This belief is what fuels TOADD’s mission to provide a flatform to educate and train students regarding proper cell phone use. This need includes education regarding cyberbullying and sexting.
CYBERBULLYING
When someone uses the Internet to threaten someone or treat them in a negative way this is known as cyberbullying. Such activity is commonly found with teenagers who allow these situations to be reinforced within social groups at school. Cyberbullying can be represented in many forms: such as a student sending out a mean mass text message, building a facebook page making fun of another classmate and spreading the web site link at school for other students to visit or sending threatening IM’s to that student. Sometimes a teenager will IM a fellow classmate and act like their friend in order to gather private information to spread around school for embarrassment. Cyberbullying is only limited by the creativity and technical ability of the bully.
SEXTING
Becoming increasingly popular with the use of imbedded camera cell phones “sexting” is the common name for taking nude or provocative pictures of oneself and sending them through cell phone text service to another person. Most commonly done by teenage girls for their boyfriends, they never think about the legal issues of this practice. Often times, after a breakup the receiving party may retaliate by sending the images to other friends in an attempt to embarrass the sender. Several cases have risen over the past year where teenagers have been charged for producing and sending child porn since they are underage. The image recipients are also liable for having the images on their phone and/or sending child porn. This is an increasing problem facing schools in dealing with this issue. Such images spread quickly throughout the student body creating an administrative hassle as schools must confiscate phones and work through the authorities. This can also take the form of bullying as students might take a picture of an unsuspecting classmate in the locker room and circulate it throughout the school.
DRIVING DISTRACTED
Using the cell phone while driving has become more and more common and can lead to more and more accidents resulting in injury and/or death. Teaching the young driver not only the rules of the road but also proper use of mobile technology while behind the wheel will lead to more educated drivers and decrease accidents, injury and/or death.
Multi-tasking behind the wheel is a matter of degree and all drivers are responsible for determining when they need additional self-training activities. When drivers overstep this line, they become socially and legally responsible. Drivers who allow themselves to be distracted by their multi-tasking activities are increasing the risk factor for themselves and imposing that dangerous limit on others–passengers, other drivers, pedestrians. This increased risk to which others are subjected is thus similar to other driver behavior that are considered aggressive and illegal: going through red lights, failing to yield, exceeding safe speed limits, reckless weaving, drinking and driving, driving sleepy or drowsy, road rage, etc.
GA PTA Convention 2011
The Texting Organization Against Distracted Driving (TOADD) Inc a 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to educating teens and pre-teens to use cell phones responsibily. Our mission is to reduce embarrassment, injury and death associated with inappropiate cell phone use. Just remember what we TOADD ya! Drive Safely, Text Tastefully & Socialize Sensibily.
Don’t Texting While Driving
It is not a breaking news that texting while driving is a bad idea. However, a research released Monday night reveals just how dangerous it really can be.
After scanning the behavior of truck drivers covering more than 6 million miles of road, the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute concluded that people who send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash than concentrated drivers.
To conduct the research, researchers mounted cameras inside drivers’ vehicles. The research shows where drivers’ eyes were looking as they did various things, such as texting, dialing a cell phone, talking on a phone, and reaching for an object. Not surprisingly, the numbers showed that the tasks that took people’s eyes off the road caused the greatest amount of danger.
In crashes or near-crashes, texting took a driver’s attention away from the road for an average of 4.6 seconds and this time enough for an accident, the research point out that travel the length of a football field at 55 mph.
By contrast, talking on a mobile phone allows drivers to keep their eyes on the road this include an increased risk of only 1.3 times that of a concentrated driver.
The study’s authors called into question past research that indicated driving while talking on a cell phone is as dangerous as driving drunk. The research also has shown that talking on a mobile phone with a wireless headset is not substantially safer than talking on a regular handset. This is because the most significant factor as far as safety is concerned is to keep one’s eyes on the road, the report said.
The institute says any task that takes a driver’s eyes off the road should be avoided and suggests that all cell phone activity should be banned for newly licensed teenagers because they’re more prone to using their phones.
Volunteer
Become a TADPOLE Patrol Volunteer .
[contact-form-7]
PROGRAMS
TADPOLE University Programs:
TADPOLE University’s houses TOADD.org core programs, platforms highlight issues relevant to the new millennia, including information about driving safely, texting tastefully and socializing sensibly. TADPOLE University Programs are designed for the PRE-WIRED Generation. This generation’s youth is mobily-connected, fast-paced, and ever-evolving. Technology is forever evolving.
TOADD.org has programs and activities for students of all grades; High School Students, Middle School Students and Elementary School Students. We strive to evolve as well.
Growing Up Mobile Program- The Growing Up Mobile Program educates about the journey through the history of communication leading to mobile technology. It explains the current generational divide with mobile technology. And covers the relevant risks and dangers that today‘s tweens, teens and young adults face with mobile technology. We are facing issues that did not exist a decade ago. Technology is a mere extension of where human communication has evolved; therefore it is our civic duty to educate and empower ourselves to evolve as well.
Millionaire Reader’s Program- The Millionaire Reader’s Club supports and recognizes the efforts of students, educators and parents, increasing their enthusiasm and love for reading as they meet their reading goals. Ultimately, students will increase their vocabulary, writing proficiency and reading fluency in addition to a host of other literary skills. Working towards educating the community at large about literacy, educating our youth enhances our future.
Technology Pledge & Recycle Program- Every day the world disposes of 130,000 tons of electronic waste, which is nearly 2.5 times the weight of the Titanic when fully loaded. On average only 10% of that waste is recycled. The remaining waste is largely put into landfills, where the lead, cadmium, mercury, and other poisonous heavy metals slowly poison our planet. Furthermore, many recyclers who promise to dispose of your computers, cell phones, and printers responsibly are sending them to developing nations such as China, India, and countries on the west coast of Africa to be burned in open pits, in an effort to extract precious metals. This allows the deadly chemicals in electronic waste finds its way into the environment and people. TOADD.org pledges to help create and maintain a safe and health mobile environment.
Lilly PADD- Parent Information Resource
Real empowerment occurs when parents are actively engaged in their youth’s success. This is why Lilly PADD Programs hails as a safe technology, mobile environment education and literacy awareness resource for parents or guardians of children who use mobile devices, as well as a resource for parents of children lost due to cell phone incidents. Our Lilly PADD Programs supports, educates and equips parents and educators with current social health and mobile technology information.
Textucation©
We combine texting games and cell phone education to provide Textucation© information through seminars, assemblies, speaking engagements, and special events. Our belief is:
Texting + Education = Textucation ©.
Textucation© uses texting activities and innovation to simulate real world texting situations, which helps to improve the roads, schools and communities where we live. We achieve this by educating the community about issues that impact youth such as texting while driving, sexting, and cyberbullying.
Contact Us
[contact-form-7]
Safe Cell Phone Use PSA
The Texting Organization Against Distracted Driving Inc, TOADD is dedicated to advocating using cell phones responsibly. The mission of our organization is to save lives by educating citizen of the dangers of driving distracted. Cell phone use while driving has reached epidemic levels. Soon the standard cell phone will be advanced technologies like Blackberry, Android and iPad4, with the capability to do way more than talking. Cell phones are now used for texting, keeping busy schedules, navigation and social networking. This increased usage has caused countless car accidents. Texting and driving became the #1 killer of teen drivers in 2009, causing 6000 deaths. Cell phones have become a vital part of everyday existence and TOADD, Inc is raising awareness about using cell phones responsibly.
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