With April being “National Distracted Driving Awareness Month” in Utah, it is a perfect time to introduce myself and my community service initiative, Project Safe Lane.
In the five seconds it takes to read a text message at 55 mph, a vehicle travels the length of a football field, but blindly if you are looking at your phone.
Over the past decade, Utah has seen an average of 4,200-5,800 crashes a year with cell phone use, texting, eating/drinking, adjusting music, passenger interactions, and other distractions. According to the Utah Safety Council, a car accident occurs every 10 minutes in our beautiful state.
My initiative, Project Safe Lane, was created from the reality that no ping, ring, or buzz is worth crossing the line of safety and risking accidents or lives.
My name is Daisy Findlay and I am running for Miss Spanish Fork 2026. I am currently serving my school as the Senior Class Vice President and I am a third year member of the Maple Mountain Drill team, known as the Ellevés. I serve as the team historian and manage our social media page.
At the end of each post, we include the hashtag #kathrynnstrong in remembrance of our team member, Kathrynn Shaw, who was killed in a car accident while riding with friends just days before her high school graduation in 2017. Her loss still affects her friends and family today, and it has left a lasting message for future generations of Ellevés. Each year, we share her story in remembrance of her and encourage others to be “strong like Kathrynn.”
Stories like hers have happened to thousands of people in Utah alone and I recently met survivors and even witnesses to accidents, who are struggling years later with the aftermath.
With young adults between the ages of 15 and 29 being more frequently involved in car crashes due to distracted driving, this topic seemed important to share especially with high school students. By sharing awareness with my peers and community now, I hope to help build good safe driving habits to help avoid being distracted or distracting others while behind Project Safe Lane the wheel. If I can help prevent even one accident, it will be worth it.
Eyshia Vanleperen is a survivor of distracted driving. Soon after Eyshia turned 18 she got in a heart breaking accident. Due to distracted driving and taillights not working, Eyshia got in an accident that changed the rest of her life. All she wanted to do was change a song but then ended up with a titanium leg. Ever since then Eyshia has put her phone away while driving, and shares her messages to others to influence them to do the same.
To put my plan into motion, I started an Instagram page called Project Safe Lane. I plan to keep posting influential content that encourages others to evaluate whether they are safe drivers or see where they can improve. I have already started hearing emotional stories of people who have been directly affected by distracted driving by either themselves or others.
Followers can hear these stories, receive tips on how to improve receive tips on how to improve their driving habits, and choose to participate in challenges.Â
I recently started a 21-day challenge to help others commit to safer driving routines at my high school. There were over 100 students and even a few teachers who signed their name to the challenge to put their phones away while driving for 21 days.
Many studies have shown that if you do something for 21 days in a row, you can make it a new habit. With phone usage of any kind being the most common form of distraction for drivers of all ages, I decided to focus here first. If we can encourage the community to put their phones away while driving and making it a habit, we could seriously reduce the number of crashes, heartbreaking accidents, or deaths.
We recently had an event for others to come and have a donut with some of my favorite local police officers and to hear about Project Safe Lane.
I was so grateful to have officers from Mapleton, Springville, and Spanish Fork attend and some of my closest friends. There is nothing more important in my life than my friends and family, and I recognize that everyone on the road or sidewalks is also someone’s loved one.
Any time you are in a moving vehicle, you are at risk, but I hope to lessen that risk by changing my own driving habits and convincing others to do the same. Please join me in driving less distracted and hopefully, together, we can make a difference!
Submitted by Daisy Findlay.
