Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital Program Looks at Distractions Behind the Wheel

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital has renamed its Cruisin’ Not Boozin’ program to reflect other distractions that drivers face.

According to Main Line Health::

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital, part of Main Line Health, has renamed its successful Cruisin’ Not Boozin’® (CNB) program, a community education and awareness initiative focused on the distractions that young drivers experience behind the wheel. The new name, Cruisin’ SMART™, launches the program into its 25th year and incorporates the message that teens should not text, use cell phones, drink, take drugs, or do anything that may distract them while driving.

As an acute rehabilitation hospital, the physicians, nurses and therapists at Bryn Mawr Rehab often care for patients who have survived automobile accidents caused by distracted or impaired driving. By establishing CNB in 1989, Bryn Mawr Rehab’s goal was and still is to significantly decrease the amount of patients like this by educating young drivers about the consequences of making poor decisions when getting behind the wheel.

Cruisin’ Smart is a unique educational program that uses true-life tragedies to instruct and change attitudes. Cruisin’ Smart speakers are survivors of life-altering accidents who warn their audiences that being distracted or impaired while driving can often result in a fate worse than death. They share their earlier lives as teenagers, their fateful accidents, and their painfully long journeys through recovery. The program is in line with Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital’s mission to prevent life-altering injuries and disability through education and skill building.

Distraction occurs visually, manually and cognitively, and texting involves all three of these types of distraction simultaneously. Taking eyes off the road, hands off the wheel and your mind off of what you’re doing while driving, even just for a moment, is extremely dangerous, and statistics show that teens between the ages 15-19 make up the largest population of distracted drivers.

“Cruisin’ Smart encourages parents and teens to communicate clearly and to set up boundaries before the teen gets into a vehicle,” says Donna Phillips, President of Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital. “Instituting rules and consequences can help save a child’s life, and the lives of others who may be on the road with them. This program is dedicated to saving lives and preventing accidents and injury.”

Bryn Mawr Rehab Hospital increases its impact by reaching out to local schools, law enforcement, parents, juvenile justice officials and grassroots community groups to collectively address the health and behavioral risks that threaten youth, families and communities.