Website tests texting skills while driving

An area orthodontist is launching a texting-and-driving campaign to raise awareness and promote safety.

Derek M. Busciglio, who has offices in Brandon and Plant City, is seeking support from area businesses to reinforce the message that sending text messages while driving a vehicle is dangerous.

In April he launched the grass-roots awareness campaign. Most of his patients are teenagers, Busciglio said, so he routinely hears what's on their minds. Distracted drivers are a recurring topic.

Busciglio is inviting other local business people to get involved with the campaign through three sponsorship packages he is offering on his Rivvid Channel at www.donttextanddrivegame.com. Rivvid is an online video trivia website on which Busciglio has created a video trivia game designed to educate users on the dangers of distracted driving.

For a $75 fee organizations can help sponsor the campaign and have their logo displayed on the game's sponsors page, donttextanddrivegame.com/sponsors. For $95 they get their logo displayed on the game's sponsors page and receive printed brochures to distribute locally. For $345, they get their logo displayed on the game's sponsors' page, receive printed brochures and have a press release written and distributed to local media, touting their support of the campaign.

"I can see the problem getting increasingly serious and have found a way to educate teens and adults on the dangers of texting and driving," Busciglio said.

Busciglio hopes the message hits home not only with his patients, but with everyone on the road.

"Texting and driving is an issue that we all need to take very seriously. I personally was rear-ended by a young lady who was texting while driving in traffic.

"Incidents like these are all too common a threat to our roadway safety. The issue has not received enough education and awareness among drivers. I hope this campaign drives attention to the significance of this dangerous issue in and around Tampa."

Visitors to the www.donttextanddrivegame.com answer trivia questions pertaining to 15-second video clips about texting and driving, while simultaneously responding to simulated onscreen text messages sent to them. Using their mouse and keyboard, players respond to text messages displayed via an onscreen phone. At the same time they have to answer video questions, receiving points for how many questions they answer correctly.

"The game's design creates a distracting environment similar to when people text and drive," Busciglio said.

Busciglio, 34, is giving away AMC movie tickets to top-scoring trivia game participants.

On his website, TheOrthoDoc.com, and Facebook page, www.facebook.com/TheOrthoDoc, Busciglio provides weekly tips on how to avoid the dangers of distracted driving.

He also gives away thumb bands in an effort to remind people not to text while behind the wheel.

Dina Sheridan, a Tampa area traffic and DUI defense attorney, agrees the problem needs to be addressed.

"Texting and driving is a serious issue that, unfortunately, Florida has yet to take any stance on," Sheridan said. "Thirty states have banned texting and driving but the issue has never made it through the Florida Legislature into law."

Sheridan is convinced of the negative affects texting can have on a person's ability to drive.

"Texting is a visual, manual, and cognitive distraction that takes your eyes off the road, hands off the wheel, and mind off driving. According to some studies, it can impair reaction time as much, if not more, than drinking alcohol," she said.

gnewman@tampatrib.com

(813) 731-8161