Welcome to iHeartRadio Communities, a public affairs special focusing on the biggest issues in facting you. This week, here's many Munnos and welcome to another edition of iHeartRadio's Communities. As you heard, I am Manny Muno's April is, among other things, distracted Driving Awareness Month. And maybe it's not a huge issue in every state because some states have tougher laws on cell phone use, but there's no question that in other places, distracted drivers have become menaces on our roads
in many parts of the country. To discuss it with Jane Terry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Director of the Office of Impaired Driving and Occupant Protection, it's a great title, Jane, I appreciate the time.
Well, thank you so much for having me. Mannie. Really appreciate your focusing on this important issue.
Yeah, and I guess I should start off by asking you how big a problem distracted driving has become in our country today.
Distractions when folks are behind the wheel have been around basically since cars have been around. You think about folks just getting talking with other people in the vehicle with them. When you have children in your car with you, they can be distracting. Eating or drinking when you're driving can also be distracting. The big game changer, I would say, is how ubiquitous cell phones are now and how we just really like to look at our phones a lot, even when we're driving.
Yeah, thirty two hundred and seventy five deaths attributed to distraction driving related crashes in twenty twenty three, and estimated three hundred and twenty four eight hundred nineteen people injured that year alone in accidents involving distracted driving, So obviously it's become a huge issue in our country.
Absolutely, the loss of life is just really tragic. And the thing about these crashes is that they are one hundred percent preventable if people really just when they're behind the wheel, focus on the drive, put the phone down, buckle up, drive the speed limit. Those are the things that people should be thinking about when they get behind the wheel.
Do you see significant differences in the terms of the numbers of distracted driving accidents in states that have tough, you know, hands free laws, for example, in states that don't, There.
Are some data that I've seen showing a difference after hands free laws go into place, that crashes do decline, so it is something for policy makers to take a look at when they're evaluating these policies.
There's all sorts of different forms of distractions while we're driving, right, cell phones obviously being the number one thing you mentioned. This goes back really to the advent of cars. You could be having a conversation with someone at the seat next to you, and you know, look at them, and
that's a form of distraction. I think the biggest thing is people don't realize whether you're going thirty miles an hour or seventy, how that brief moment looking away from the road can really affect you and cause an accident.
I think you're exactly right with that, and to put it in terms that may be more understandable to people, five seconds of eyes off the roads at fifty five miles per hour, which is not that fast, especially on the interstates, you will travel the distance of a football field. So if you can think about not looking at what you're doing and traveling that far, there's a lot that can happen when you're in an area, especially with other types of road users pedestrians, cyclists, children, playground.
Schools, road workers.
Yeah, it can be dangerous.
Distracted Driving Awareness Month. I think we're all aware that it's a problem, even those of us that might look at our phone while we're driving. What are you trying to do differently this year to reach more drivers, to get the message out of how dangerous distracted driving could be.
Well, certainly, we appreciate your taking the time to focus on this and getting the message out. I tell you, sometimes it's just important to have those personal conversations because this can be a topic where you can influence a friend or family member, let them know how much you care about them, how you want them to return home safely each and every day, and to do that, they need to be safe on the road and focus on the drive.
Technology obviously part of the problem here, because if we didn't have our phones in our hand, there wouldn't be as much distracted driving. Can technology also help us improve or lessen the problem.
Nanny, that's absolutely correct. I know on my phones, I've got it set to respond automatically to a text message that comes in when I'm driving, telling the recipient that I'm driving and that I will return that message as soon as I'm at a safe place.
Is that a special app that you have or is that available on any phone?
It is an it's not an app, so you don't have to download anything. Or I actually have two different phones by two different manufacturers, and it's available on both of those in the settings.
That's fascinating. Are there any specific demographics, like teens, maybe commercial drivers where the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is specifically targeting with your outreach, they need to hear the message clearer than others.
It's a message that I think resonates with all drivers. But you bring up a good point in focusing on
young drivers. We know driving is dangerous when you're first learning how to drive, you don't have the experience yet focusing on those young drivers, those teams aged drivers and getting them to really make sure they are being as stafe as possible behind the wheel, putting down the phone, but also buckling up, driving the speed limit, driving unimpaired, those are important messages for them to hear as well.
It took a long time. I'm old enough to remember when we didn't have to wear seat belts. Cars didn't even have seat belts, and I remember the battles in a lot of states to get people to make them mandatory, right because they save lives. Do you see that the message about distracted driving is getting the people. Are we seeing less of these accidents on a yearly basis or is it still increasing?
Unfortunately, the rate of crashes is holding steady. But I think the more we can have these conversations, the more we can set good examples for those young people's, teenagers, children in our cars, those are really going to make the difference. Again, each and every one of these crashes, distracted with related crashes are preventable. It's just a matter of really focusing on the drive.
Got a few more minutes here with Jane Terry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Director of the Office of Impaired Driving and Occupant Protection, talking about in part the fact that April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Do you find that people have misconceptions about their ability to drive safely or to drive well while being distracted?
Mannie, I think that's a great question. I mean, I think sometimes it may be do as I say, not as I do. Yeah, So again I think it's how do we how do we be the behavior that we want to see in other other people? And for me, I know when I am behind the wheel, I Like I said, I've got the setting in my phone that will automatically respond to text messages that come through saying that I'm driving, and I'll respond later the phone away and focus on what's happening on the roadway around me.
This might be unusual, But the reason I asked that if there were misconceptions that people think they can actually drive well while they're distracted, because I thought about I thought about growing up and when I was younger and I knew people who, for example, smoked pot, every single one of them would say, well, I drive better when I'm stoned. And my first thought was, no, you don't.
There's just there's just no way. So I'm wondering if they are If distracted driving compares to other things like impaired driving, whether it's alcohol or drugs or drowsy driving, in terms of fatalities.
And injuries, Well, some people think of the impair Excuse me, some people think of distracted driving as a form of impairment. Sure, so that way they are sometimes compared. The latest data that we have show that over thirty two hundred people lost their lives life in distracted driving crashes on US roadways. Again,
these are all one hundred percent preventable. So there's a lot more that we can do to make sure people are really focusing on the drive, putting down the phone again, waiting for those conversations in when you're behind the wheel to take place later, refraining from eating and drinking as well. These other distractions are important to pay attention to us.
Well, sure, yeah, makeup shaving, reading while you're in the car, while you're driving, all of those things. How does state and how does law enforcement play into this whole thing and helping curb distracted driving.
That's a great question, and enforcement of our road safety laws is very important to really deter people from doing those things. Laws vary across the country, so I encourage listeners to know what your laws are. Certainly the best way to drive is not using the phone at all, but a lot of states out there have hands free laws. They may have certain laws that limit youth entirely by
drivers under the age of eighteen. So for everybody listening, take some time familiarize yourself with your state laws.
I was reading one of the statistics that the crash risk increases between two to six percent two to six times when drivers use a phone behind the wheel. Does that also apply for hands free some of this we were talking about it a minute ago, technology that maybe allows people to stay connected while keeping their eyes on the road.
Certainly the best way to be able to drive is really focused on the drive as opposed to the conversation, because what happens when you're in that phone conversation is your brain is more engaged in that conversation than what you're doing your primary task of driving. So they're dangerous with even being hands free. I would just encourage drivers not to think of hand free as being risk free.
I remember growing up they had the Arrive Alive campaign and I'm wondering if there are certain public safety campaigns involving distracted driving that you have found work better than others and.
Why Well, at NITSA we say put the phone away or pay. Of course pay, you could have many different meanings there. Sure, that's what we encourage folks to use, and we've got a lot of resources online for people
to be able to echo that message, including individuals. So if it's something that you care about as an individual, please visit the NITSA website to get more information on how you can spread the word about distracted Driving Awareness months, not just in April, but at all times of the year.
What about partnerships public private? Do you find our most effective and advancing this message and distracted driving initiatives?
There are a lot of different ways that we can get the message out there. One way that I've heard about out that can be effective is for employers to look at their own policies. Employers do a lot of work to mitigate risk to their employees, and this is certainly one of those things. Having a policy that your employees will not drive distracted when they're behind the wheel for work can really be changing behavior and improving safety
at the same time. And certainly we would hope that then those people would take that not only when they're driving, but also do that when they're behind the wheel for personal reasons as well.
Are you able to measure the effectiveness of these campaigns and your outreach, especially during a month like this where you're really trying to draw attention to the problem.
Well, we certainly know that we have thousands, hundreds of thousands of people who engage on and Distracted Driving Awareness months and really spread the message around the country, and we so appreciate this engagement because we can't do it on our own, I would say again to reiterate the importance of having those personal conversations with people who you care about and want to make sure that they arrive safely every time they get behind the wheels.
Is that the ultimate goal? Obviously, the goal of this month, I would think would be for everybody to just put their phone away while they're driving and not pick it up again until they park the car. I'm not sure how realistic that is in this day and age. So what does success or at least advancing the message look like to you?
Really for folks to focus on the drive. I think we take it for granted how connected we are, As you mentioned, we didn't used to be like this. I mean, at my age, my father had a job that he went to work each and every day and never took a phone call because it wasn't even an option. Yeah, and it wasn't expected of him to be available at
all hours of the day and night. So I think it also gives us time to really focus on other things and really enjoy the drive, as opposed to worrying about what's coming through on a text message or an email or something else that may be happening on your phone to take some time, enjoy the drive, focus on the drive, Be safe not only for yourself, as others who are in the car with you and the others who are operating around you.
Best place to go for more information or other resources.
MISA dot gov. That's NHDSA dot gov.
And that's Jane Terry, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administrations Director of the Office of Impair Driving and Occupant Protection talking about distracted Driving Awareness Months. Jane, I really appreciate the time. Best of luck with a campaign. We hope it has a significant impact.
Thank you, nanny. Do you take care and be safe.
April is Alcohol Awareness Month. It's been going on since nineteen eighty seven. The National Council on Alcohol and Drug Dependence sponsoring the month to increase public away awareness and understanding about alcohol related issues. Let's discuss exactly what all of that means as we bring in doctor Nazinga Harrison of Eleanor Health. He's a board certified psychiatrist with a specialty in addiction medicine. Doctor Harrison, thanks so much for the time.
Thank you for the time.
So let me start off with this, what exactly is alcohol awareness month, hoping to accomplish.
Exactly what it says.
We want people to recognize that trouble with alcohol is not only the most severest form of alcoholism that people think of. When you've lost your job, you've lost your home, your health is failing, you're living in the street, drinking out of a paper bag. That's kind of the image we tend to pull up in our minds when we think about a person who is struggling with alcohol. But if we look at the way we diagnose alcohol use disorder medically, there's my heled moderate severe, and so there
are much less severe presentations of alcohol use disorder. And so if at any point a person asked themselves or people that they care about, ask them, what do you think about your drinking, that's an opportunity to raise awareness of alcohol use and try to prevent the development of alcohol youth disorder.
In other words, you can have a drinking problem and not be an alcoholic.
You could say it that way.
So when we think about the diagnosis medically, alcohol use disorder has ten criteria, you only have to meet two to get a diagnosis of alcohol use disorder mild. You could think of it as like pre alcoholism. If you thought I'm not going to drink as much today and then you drink as much today, or if your partner right is telling you, I really would like it if you would drink less. Yes, those are two criteria, and so the rest of your life might appear to be intact.
But you meet the diagnosis of alcohol use disorder mild. And so how do we get you help before that progresses.
Somebody who drinks every day, maybe a glass or two of wine with their dinner, do they qualify for somebody with alcohol use disorder?
Great question. So the criteria are not based only on the amount that you drink. They're actually based on any consequences that.
Come for your drinking. So when we look.
At the World Health Organization definition of risky drinking for men, and this is gender binary, but for men it's less than fourteen drinks per week, so less than two drinks per day and no more than four drinks in one sitting. And for women it's less than seven drinks per week, no more than one drink per day, no more than four in one sitting. And so if you're drinking more than fourteen and you're a man, and more than seven
and you're a warman, that yes, is an indicator. But there are plenty of people that have physical health consequences, social consequences, employment consequences at lower levels of drinking, and so not just the amount alone, it's the criterion.
I guess many of these things are kind of misconceptions about problem drinking or alcoholism.
That's exactly right.
The misconception is that it's not alcoholism unless it's severe, right, And the reality is that the I mean, the newest evidence, which has been wildly unpopular, although I've been telling folks, is that there is no safe amount of alcohol to drink. So like the healthiest option is not drinking at all. But then also, can we just make it safe? And this is the goal of Alcohol Awareness Month? Can we just make it safe? To ask ourselves, is this how
I want to be drinking? Or for people to say to us, I'm a little worried about how you're drinking, even if it's not our concept of quote alcoholism, right.
And when that leads me to an interesting angle to this whole thing. Because you are you are a psychiatrist, I would imagine the perception is that when you first bring something like this up to someone, they will immediately get defensive. So how do you bring something like this is a concern about a loved one or a friend up without and appearing as if you're attacking or accusing them of having a problem.
Yes, thank you so much for asking this question, because this is what Alcohol Awareness Month is about.
Also is reducing the stigma.
And so we tend to talk about alcoholism, alcohol use disorder like as a judgment against a person as opposed to an illness that the person has. And so what I always say is always approach with compassion and concerns. So instead of you need to stop drinking, is you know what I'm I'm worried about your drinking. And this is why two clean facts. I'm worried about your drinking because you missed class yesterday. I'm worried about your drinking because you were supposed to meet me out for dinner
and you couldn't because you were hungover. Is there anything I can do to help? So it's a three part conversation. One, I'm concerned because I care about you, two two examples of what is making me concerned, and number three the offer to help them get connected to support is.
Addiction addiction, no matter what you're addicted to, whether it's cocaine or gambling or alcohol.
Yes, addiction is addiction, and even beyond cocaine, gambling, alcohol, food, shopping, sex, Internet right, and really the broader definition you can use. There is continuing something that the negative consequences are outweighing
the positive benefits. So we all start something because of positive benefits, but when that balance switches to negative consequences and still it's hard not to do that thing, that's when you know your brain and body chemistry has crossed the line over to addiction.
We're speaking with doctor and Zinga Harrison of Eleanor Health. She's a board certified psychiatrist with a specialty in addiction medicine. Let me ask you about you for a moment. What about your background influenced you to get into addiction medicine.
Yeah, so I decided really young, maybe five years old, that I wanted to be a doctor. I don't have doctors in my family, so to me, that meant pediatrician.
But when I went to.
Medical school and I did my psychiatry rotation, I really saw just how misunderstood substance use disorders, other addictions and other mental health conditions were even by doctor, nurses, therapists, and so that really compelled me kind of to serve this community that I felt the health system didn't really understand. And that's what I've been doing. If I look back in my family history, tons of addiction and mental health conditions in my family. So maybe I was destined to be a psychiatrist.
Something you didn't realize at the time until you started studying and researching it.
That's exactly right.
Like I remember being in one of my first psychiatry classes and learning about PTSD and being like, oh, my gosh, my dad was a Vietnam veteran. He went to Vietnam when he was nineteen. He had really severe PTSD. When
we were little, we didn't know it. We just knew it was hard to live with dad, right, And I was like literally every diagnostic criterion and so saying with aunts and uncles who were struggling with substances alcohol, cocaine, heroin, it was like, oh, now I understand the illnesses that they had.
Let me put myself out there because my hobby is wine. I enjoy learning and drinking wine. I enjoy wine with my dinner, and I believe you said earlier, the goal is not to drink at all. But can you define responsible drinking?
Yeah, absolutely, So it's really about those consequences. Right, So, when we look at our diagnostic criteria, responsible drinking, if we'll use that as a synonym for does not meet diagnostic criteria for alcohol use disorder, means if you decide how much you're going to drink, you can control how much you're going to drink.
How much you're drinking is not preventing.
Your ability to perform in the roles you have in your life, So as a father, as a friend, as a brother, as a radio host, it's not preventing your ability to be responsible and meet your responsibilities. It's not affecting your mental health. It's not affecting your physical health. It's not affecting your relationships. So at any point any of those kind of flip to like, yes, it is negatively affecting. That's the early warning sign for you to know that you may be walking.
Towards an addiction so that you can intervene.
We've all heard of things like dry January, right, and one of the big trends right now is is non alcoholic beverages I've also read stories about bars where people are gathering that serve no alcohol. Where do you think these trends are coming from.
I absolutely love these trends, So I think they're coming from efforts like Alcohol Awareness Months, where people realize, even though it is very culturally acceptable to use alcohol in a dangerous way in social settings, it has become safe to say I don't want to do that. And so oh I love dry January and I tell people, listen, it could be dry, anywary Okay, any mammal wary dry is great. Yeah. And the non alcoholic wine because listen, okay,
prosecco and sparkling rose, like that is my jam. But me and my husband haven't had a drink in eighteen months because we like did a dry month. We were like, we're not gonna drink this month, and then now it's been eighteen months.
Yeah, but we drink.
A ton of non alcoholic wine, non alcoholic cocktail, non alcoholic.
He drinks beer.
I don't like beer, but I think it's just become safe to say, like you can make the choice to not drink and not be considered a weirdo.
Right, Yeah, I guess it used to be like back it can be cool. Yeah, I'm older than you are, but you go back to like the sixties and seventies and felt like everybody smoked cigarettes, right, and now it's kind of that, you know, most people don't smoke. You're kind of the one of you if you are going outside to smoke. The trends in drinking, obviously, I say, And you're the psychiatrist. The pandemic I think changed all of us in wighs. Many of us probably still don't understand.
And that obviously influenced alcohol consumption, especially in our country. Did it not? It did?
You're so exactly right.
We saw alcohol consumption actually spiked to like highest levels during the pandemic. They still have not come down to pre pandemic levels even though they.
Are coming down.
And with that spike, we saw and it's chicken and egg, right, depression, anxiety, isolation, so those are bi directional with alcohol use disorder. And so we're still dealing with the collective trauma of the COVID pandemic. But I think making it safe for us to find other strategies than alcohol has been really refreshing.
Some of the most effective treatments for somebody who might have out, and I'd never heard the term alcohol use disorder until I spoke to you. Is it just like you stop drinking cold turkey or what are the treatments?
Definitely not okay.
Stop drinking cold turkey, So that can be dangerous. Alcohol is one of the drugs we have. If you cold turkey, you're actually at risk of dying depending on how Yeah, depending on how long you've been drinking, how much you've been drinking, other factors, and so we want you to taper it down. Yeah, we want you to taper it down. I tell people, don't decrease your drinking by any more than fifty percent per day and or go into a detox for three or five days. Every addiction, alcohol use
disorder included. I want people to think biological, psychological.
And environmental interactions to get the best outcomes.
So biological, we have MBA approved medications that can help you stop drinking and stay stop drinking if that's your goal. If your goal is controlled drinking, the medications help you control the drinking as well. Psychologically, depression, anxiety, other mental health conditions, trauma.
All of this matters.
We already drew that two sided arrow earlier in this conversation, So you have to address those or drinking is gonna come back. And then environmentally, like we talked about not being the weirdo, like you have to have people that are cool with you not drinking and encouraging you not drinking, and a sense of life meaning and purpose and trying
to reduce stressors otherwise. So if you can hit all three of those, book it's biological, psychological, and environmental, you give yourself the best chance to meet your goal for drinking, whatever that goal is.
Well, last thing for you in our final few seconds, your best advice insights into how family or community support can aid somebody who might be struggling with alcohol.
Try not to be judgmental. Compassion is the answer, period. And so alcohol use disorder can come with symptoms that are very hurtful to the people that care about you, and it can feel like.
You hate that person.
You don't hate that person, You hate that illness. So the more you can separate the illness from the person you love and say like, I want to help you get help with this illness because it's turning you into a person I don't know or can't stand, the more you can approach that with compassion, the better the chance is that that person can recover.
Doctor and Zinga Harrison of Eleanor Health Board certified Psychiatrists with a specialty and addiction medicine about Alcohol Awareness Month, Doctor Harrison, so appreciate it for your time, Thanks so much. Thanks Manny, and that'll do it for another edition of Iheartradios Communities. I'm Manny Muno's until next time.