April is National Distracted Driving Awareness Month and the Lutzie 43 Foundation has made many strides in our effort to become a leader in the fight against distracted and impaired driving. See below for some updates!

ALEA Partnership

The Lutzie 43 Foundation has partnered with ALEA (Alabama Law Enforcement Agency) to co-promote our 43 Key Seconds safe driving initiative.

“We’re honored to partner with ALEA as we work together to create change in the way Alabama drivers behave on the roads. I strongly believe our key can become the nationally-recognized symbol for safe driving and serve as a constant reminder for drivers to prioritize safety when they get behind the wheel,” said Mike Lutzenkirchen, the Executive Director of the foundation.

Alabama State Troopers and Driver License Examiners will be handing out 7,500 co-branded keys to motorists (during traffic stops) and new teen drivers.

“We at ALEA rely on a variety of tools to prevent traffic crashes, injuries and fatalities, particularly when reaching Alabama’s most inexperienced drivers,” ALEA’s Secretary of Law Enforcement, Hal Taylor said. “Who knows how many lives will be saved as our Troopers and Driver License Examiners help to distribute 43 Key Seconds keys?”

Bluffton, SC Partnership

On April 9th, Bluffton, South Carolina became the first city to partner with the Lutzie 43 Foundation. Mike visited the town on Tuesday to speak with the community about the 43 Key Seconds campaign. The City of Bluffton and the Bluffton Police Department, which is also a part of the partnership, gave out lanyards to remind residents to walk through the 43-second safe driving checklist when getting into their cars.

“The majority of accidents, and when I say the majority – 60 percent or somewhere higher – it is that high here in Bluffton, there is an accident to distracted driving in nearly all of these accidents. If we can bring some awareness to that, lower those percentages, we’ve accomplished something,” said Chief Chris Chapmond of Bluffton PD.

Georgia State Police Partnership

This month our partnership with the Georgia State Police and Georgia Department of Public Safety was approved with Colonel Mark W. McDonough, Commissioner of GSP, as our lead supporter. Like Alabama’s State Troopers, Georgia State Troopers distributed 7,500 co-branded keys, lanyards and countdown cards during the month of April in alignment with Distracted Driving Awareness Month. This campaign is to support the interest of public safety.

Safe Driving Pledge

As awareness for the Lutzie 43 Foundation has increased this month, we have seen over 500 Safe Driving Pledge sign-ups!

As National Distracted Driving Awareness Month concludes, we will continue to raise our efforts in educating the public about the dangers of distracted driving and hope to become the nationally recognized symbol for safe driving.