Russ White 0:00
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defines distracted driving as any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle and fiddling with the stereo entertainment or navigation system. Anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving. Texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for five seconds at 55 miles per hour. That's like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed. You cannot drive safely unless the task of driving has your full attention. Any non driving activity you engage in is a potential distraction and increases your risk of crashing. Using a cell phone while driving creates enormous potential for deaths and injuries on us roads. In 2018 alone, more than 2800 people were killed in motor vehicle crashes involving distracted drivers. On September 19 2016, MSU freshmen Mitchell Kiefer was tragically killed in an auto accident caused by a distracted driver on I 96. And Mitchell's way to the MSU campus. Steve keefer is Mitchell's father, Steve earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from Michigan State University and is a member of the Michigan State University College of Engineering Alumni Association advisory board. He's gms key executive at Michigan State University and is a member of GM senior leadership team. He's Senior Vice President and President of General Motors, South America and international operations, meaning he's responsible for GM operations outside of North America and China. Soon after Mitchell's death, Steve founded the keefer Foundation to honor Mitchell's legacy. The mission of the keefer Foundation is to end distracted driving and all associated traffic deaths and injuries. The keefer Foundation focuses on three pillars to support its mission, awareness, technology, and policy, when within each of these pillars are specific goals they hope to achieve, and initiatives in which they hope to get involved. They've already made some progress, but still have a long way to go. Steve, it's great to welcome you to this Spartan story inside MSU today, and I'm just so sorry for your loss.

Steve Kiefer 2:32
Well, thank you, Russ, I really appreciate, first of all your introduction, but also your invitation for to allow me to join, join this podcast and really tell our story and hopefully create some additional awareness around the the dangers of distracted driving.

Russ White 2:48
Is there anything you would add about distracted driving to my introduction?

Steve Kiefer 2:52
Well, yeah, I think the the first thing I would add is, you know, until something like this happens to you personally, I don't think you really, people really understand the the magnitude of this problem. And, you know, I like to point out some of the global statistics as it relates to highway safety as I start these discussions. So first, I think it's important for people to realize that around the world because this is a global problem around the world, 1.2 5 million people are killed on the highways of the world, every year 1.2 5 million, so it's a huge number and some 50 million are injured or disabled every year in car crashes and pedestrian related car crashes around the world. So the number is really quite quite staggering. You talked about some of the the nitsa data. And when you bring that to the US, you know we lose somewhere between 35 35,000 40,000 people on the highways of the United States each year, again, 40,000 people is it's a staggering number. And usually when the folks that do the analysis on distracted driving, they usually estimate that about 10% of those are due to distracted driving. We honestly believe that number is way under reported. As a matter of fact, you know, the stats would generally say that 94% of crashes that occur on the highways are due to some type of human error. So you know whether it could be just speeding or drinking and driving or drowsiness, but we know a large large percentage of those are distracted driving. So again, the simple stat that I think is most staggering is that in this country, 10 people every day are killed by distracted driving. And it's just you know it again until you go through it. It's just hard for me to imagine that today and tomorrow and the next day. Every day we're gonna have another 10 people another 10 families going through what my family has gone through, and it really is, you know, one of the prime motivators for us to to get something done here and really bring an end to distracted driving. So

Russ White 4:58
tell us more about Mitchell in what happened?

Steve Kiefer 5:01
Yeah, so the story never never gets easier to tell. But, you know, as you said it was, it was actually September 19 of 2016, the worst day of our life. Mitchell was in his first month at MSU. And he had come home for a nice weekend to go see a lions game actually. And he was driving up to MSU on I 96, early Monday morning, about 750 in the morning. And, you know, it was a beautiful Monday morning, the sun was out the roads were dry, you know, no reason for for, you know, a crash to occur. And unfortunately, there was a little bit of traffic congestion, the traffic slowed down, Mitchell slowed down. And unfortunately, the the young lady behind him did not, she impacted Mitchell's car at about 82 miles an hour. And as most people probably know, when airbags deploy, there's a there's a flight recording function inside modern automobiles. So you get the forensics from the from the vehicle, it was clear that the car was going 82 miles an hour, but also that at the time of impact, the driver's foot was on the throttle, not on the brake. So again, that's a pretty clear indication that that the young lady was was was not not paying attention and never touched the brake. So that resulted in Mitch Mitchell being rear ended and driven across a very narrow median on I 96, near dethrone a narrow medium that has had no guardrails at the time, and Mitchell was driven into oncoming traffic where he was hit by a large truck and in killed instantly. So, yeah, those are the circumstances. And again, it's just it's a horrific thing to think that, you know, one small sort of Act of, of, you know, lack of paying attention of distraction, can just, you know, really destroy lives for forever.

Russ White 6:52
Again, I'm so sorry, Steven, we did mention the three pillars of focus for the key for foundation or awareness, technology and policy. Let's break those down and talk about the awareness pillar. Yeah.

Steve Kiefer 7:04
So So, you know, first and foremost, we, you know, we felt that as we learned how large this problem is, and interestingly enough, we referred to it as a global pandemic, you know, several years ago, before the more recent pandemic, and I really believe that, that it is a global pandemic, this is, you know, certainly, as I, as I covered in the earlier stats, you know, causing, causing deaths, and, you know, disabling injuries all over the world. So we felt, first and foremost, it was important to make as many people realize this as possible. And you do find that there's, you know, families like ours all over the country that have similar goals. So things like, you know, advertising billboards, a number of community events, we engaged with a nonprofit organization in Grand Rapids, Michigan, called the peers Foundation, which brings simulators into schools and churches, around the state and around the country to educate young people on the dangers of distracted driving, we're able to put them in a car, let them drive in a simulated fashion and then distract them and show how it causes crashes. So these things are, you know, sort of all in the in the categories of of awareness. We also had the opportunity to do some things, to memorialize Mitchell but also to create awareness. So, you know, Mitchell was, was a hockey player, he went to Detroit Catholic Central, he was part of the, the 2016 state championship Catholic central hockey team, and he was a goalie. We, they won that state championship at an ice rink, a USA hockey rink in Plymouth, Michigan. And we worked with the the USA hockey Foundation, and actually dedicated that rink in Mitchell's honor. So that ice rink is now known as the Mitchell keefer Memorial ice rink, which really feels good from a from a from a, you know, from the perspective of a father to memorialize your son. But more importantly, we didn't just put Mitchell's name we it's it's covered with distracted driving messages. There's a locker that has a video that runs with distracted driver, statistics and other messages. And you know, that ice rink, there's 500,000 people that visit that ice rink each year for various activities, whether it's hockey games, or or, you know, ice skating competitions, figure skating competitions. And I can't tell you how many people contact me and say, you know, Mr. keefer, we're in your son's ice rink right now. And it's given me an opportunity to talk to my children and my family about these dangers and your your message is having a huge impact in this ice rink alone. So there's several other examples I could give it that's probably the one that's kind of closest to my heart because you know, every time I visit that ice rink gets, you know, such fond memories. Have Mitchell and the state championship, but also a really effective way to spread a message of driver safety?

Russ White 10:09
And what about the technology pillar? Steve, tell me more about that.

Steve Kiefer 10:13
Yeah, so technology is got many aspects to it. In some cases, it's, it's related to awareness, educating people that, you know, you need to be more cautious when driving. And in its simplest form, there's a number of technology tools that people can be using right now, the safe driving mode, and do not disturb mode on your Apple phones and your Android phones. I mean, those tools work very well, if if you can just get everyone that you know, and, and your families and friends to use those tools, essentially disabling the phone, from, you know, receiving texts or calls when you're when you're driving. So those are some of the I call them simple, I would say, you know, already in place, sort of technologies that we continue to encourage folks to use and really take personal accountability and use them. But there's other things, there's a number of newer technologies that are being developed driver monitoring tools, by some vendors that are sort of watching the driver as they drive and recording these things. And, hopefully, you know, alerting drivers when their eyes are not on the road for for, for a short period. These technologies are being developed. There's other technologies related to blocking, blocking the use of phone simple, simple technologies, like, you know, phone bags, that sometimes we we force young people to use, if the phone is in the bag, it can't receive a signal, and then it's in the car. It's a fairly simple technology. And then maybe the final one that we're really quite proud of, and it's a little bit of a stretch on the technology thing is the concept of these cable guard rails. I described my opening comments about the circumstances of Mitchell's crash, had there been a guardrail on that narrow medium on on I 96. It would have stopped Mitchell's car from going into oncoming traffic, and you probably wouldn't have even been injured at all. So you know, we worked with the Michigan Department of Transportation on these very simple cable guardrails that you see all over the state. And we actually did a co funding project path sponsored by the keefer Foundation and have sponsored by him that to put in about five miles of cable guardrail at the point where Mitchell's crash occurred. Now, when we did that, we really thought it was kind of a ceremonial thing. I kind of thought, you know, I just I just wanted that that exact point on the highway to be to be safe, I couldn't imagine but within the first year, that guardrail was hit 12 times. So you know, it just, you know, just again, says that, you know, the simple technology like these cable guardrails, which are really quite inexpensive and cost effective. You know, we know it's it saved 12 lives in that short period of time. And you know, you continue to see it all over the state where you see these cable guardrails that have been damaged or knocked down. You know, they are, they are effective, and they are saving lives.

Russ White 13:08
Steve is part of the keeper keeper foundation goals, you said, You're really focusing on the policy pillar. So tell us what you're working on policy wise to end distracted driving.

Steve Kiefer 13:19
Yeah. So over the last, I would say two years, we shifted our focus, because we knew awareness was important. We know technology solutions will continue to come and you know, and maybe a little later in the the discussion here, we'll talk about autonomous driving, which is kind of the the ultimate thing that will, you know, eliminate the driver, the driver errors that caused crashes. But we also realize that legislation and policy can be an extremely important piece of this. And, you know, if you reflect back on, you know, the the progress that's been made, I would say in my lifetime, since you know, the the 1980s and 90s. When you look at drunk driving in those decades, of course, you know, it was a huge problem. And what what we saw is a group of, you know, very motivated and very influential people called the Mothers Against Drunk drivers got very active and the legislative front and also in the courts. So they first made sure that there were very stiff drunk driving laws in place, which was kind of the first step and then second, they sat in the courtrooms and just made sure that anybody that was you know, was was guilty of these things receive received very severe punishment. And, you know, when I was young, that seemed like a crazy group of people and a lot of us didn't understand it, until you lose a child then you realize exactly why they were doing what they're doing. And you know, if you look over the years now that the drunk driving occurrences have completely changed. And I would even say culturally for you know, all of your listeners if you if you think about, you know, the the younger generation right now, I mean, I know my kids would, would never even consider getting behind the wheel after drinking. It's You know, it's kind of equated to, you know, I don't know, holding up a bank or something, you just you wouldn't do something like that. So behavior has changed completely. And of course, there's other things available like Uber and Lyft. Now, which has also really helped, you know, bring down the the need for anyone to be driving under the influence. So I spent a long time on that, because I think that that whole behavioral change that was the result of drunk driving laws, and really the is really had a very significant impact. If I fast forward to the laws that we're working on now. It's about hannspree legislation, which we which we call this the distracted driving laws that we're we're talking about now. And really, it's it's, it basically says that, if you're in a vehicle and you're holding the phone, for any reason, holding the phone, it becomes a primary offense, law enforcement can see it, they can pull you over and you receive a severe ticket. By the way, this is not unusual. This is what most developed countries do around the world that spent many years living in Europe, in Europe, if you hold your phone in the car, it's instantly a 400 500 euro penalty. So it's it's not. It's not a new or unusual practice. But we're trying to get these hands free laws implemented in every state in the country. And, you know, we really believe that if, if the laws are in place, and then the awareness and enforcement is in place, and this is really important that, that we have a tool that law enforcement can use because right now, you know, laws that are that that are banned that ban texting, still allow people to hold the phone in the car, and it's just impossible for law enforcement to determine what a person is doing on their phone to distinguish between texting and, and, and phone usage. So really, we believe that the hands free laws, will will give law enforcement a tool that will basically be able to, you know, change behavior, and then through enforcement and education, we were optimistic that we can bring down the traffic crashes significantly. And you know, and I would, I would just say that, you know, the data supports that every state that has implemented these laws has seen significant reductions in crashes and deaths as a result as a result of these hands free laws.

Russ White 17:16
So Steve, how can anyone joining our conversation get involved in help?

Steve Kiefer 17:20
Yeah, great, great question. So we're, we're in the process of re re energizing a campaign that we refer to as hannspree, Michigan. We first introduced this a couple of years ago. And we agreed to take a bit of a pause during the the, the latest pandemic last year. But it's time now to get re energized on this. The the there's now 25 states that have these hands free laws in place. And as I said, they're they're all having a very significant impact on reducing crashes and deaths. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to get the law passed here in Michigan. So what we're trying to do right now, there's a bill that's being developed and sponsored in the house right now in in Michigan. And our our hope and expectation is to get as many people on board as possible to support this, this bill and to support the passing of a law referred to as hands free. And we we have a goal here to basically get this law, broad for get the bill brought forward and through the state legislature and passed into law by

Russ White 18:38
September of this year. Well, again, it's the keefer Foundation, and there's a lot more at em keefer.org that's MKIE f er or it's probably easier these days just to Google, the keefer Foundation. And again, their mission is to end distracted driving and all associated traffic deaths and injuries. We're talking with its founder, Steven Kiefer, who is as we said, your day job, Steve, you're part of the senior leadership team at General Motors and the company recently unveiled a new logo reportedly to better reflect the company's electrified future. I know we could have a conference on this, Steve, but just in general, what's the state and future of the automotive industry and General Motors in particular? Well,

Steve Kiefer 19:24
yeah, thanks for asking. You know, I've been in automotive my entire life. I actually started at General Motors as a as a 19 year old Michigan State engineering Co Op student. And it's just been an incredible career in the auto industry. But I couldn't be more excited than then than I am today as to where we're headed as an industry and where we're headed as as General Motors, as you, as you mentioned, the new logo is just a piece of it. It's an exciting new logo that really represents the future of GM. And you know, we have a vision at GM of a future of zero crashes 01 And zero congestion. And again, I'm very proud of what the company is doing in that respect this concept of zero crashes. You know, ultimately, I mentioned that, as we get to autonomous driving, and we will, we, you know, we're convinced that this will essentially eliminate all traffic crashes related to human air. So we're optimistic about that. But unfortunately, that's, that's many years in the future. And in the meantime, you know, I personally believe that ending distracted driving and keeping driver's eyes on the road and hands on the wheels, as we say, is probably the best thing we can do to reduce crashes in the short term. The second one I mentioned the zero emissions, we we do believe in an all electric future and the the plan to roll out a whole portfolio of new battery electric vehicles is just extremely exciting. If you were able to see any of the the reviews out of the Consumer Electronics Show this year, the team at General Motors just just killed it in that, in that, in that technology show, just probably more technology than I could, I could talk through in a few minutes here. But I just couldn't be more excited and more proud of the path that GM is on. And, you know, it's, it's going to be a really exciting year, and a really exciting decade as we forge into the future of the auto industry.

Russ White 21:25
And Steve, how does General Motors define mobility? That's sort of a buzzword, we hear a lot, but what does how does GM defined it and sort of explain the difference between electrification and autonomous? Although they go hand in hand, they are different, aren't they? Yeah,

Steve Kiefer 21:40
yeah. I mean, you know, electrification, as many forms, but it's brought a sense, it's, it's the idea of moving from, you know, propulsion systems that are based on internal combustion engines, like gasoline and diesel engines into, you know, propulsion systems that are driven by, by electric motors and electricity. I say it that way. Because I think even fuel cells, hydrogen fuel cells, which are in our future, as well, are another way to produce electric electricity for an electric vehicle. So you know, and then there's, there's, you know, many companies out there that are doing various steps of electrification, you know, hybrid vehicles, and so on. But again, we're focused on this all electric future, which is really about battery electric vehicles. And you'll start to see more and more of them rolled out. And I'm especially especially excited about the new Hummer, Evie that we recently introduced and revealed, that will be available later this year. And that is just going to be the highest performing electric truck in the, in the in the industry, and I couldn't be more excited to get that one out into the market. So that's, you know, really electric vehicles. We do believe, you know, that autonomous vehicles are probably best suited on a electric vehicle platform, which is, which is our plan. And, you know, some of the announcements that you that you may have seen over these last couple of weeks, a new partnership with Microsoft, in together with our cruise automation company in California, really focused on leading the industry in autonomous vehicles. You know, I feel I'm extremely proud of what our the GM team has done in, in developing our autonomous fleet and our autonomous vehicles. But, you know, I always say it's one thing for us to brag about it. But, you know, over just the last several years, there's been announcements of Hyundai Motor Company participating in our autonomous activity. Now, Microsoft, and even prior to that SoftBank made a very significant investment. So I would just say, some of the world, industry and financial leaders are betting on General Motors as it relates to autonomous and I couldn't be more proud of that work. And Steve, what about both some challenges and opportunities then for GM to reach these mobility goals? Yeah, I think, you know, the, the sky's the limit here. There's, you know, there's, there's, you know, technology always comes with challenges. And, and risk, but, you know, I think one is, you know, a pipeline of extremely bright, intelligent, motivated people. And I'm, I'm excited in my role, participate, participating with the MSU College of Engineering to, to at least help define some of those needs so that we get some of the best new engineers coming into our company. I think our story at General Motors right now is is absolutely fantastic. And I think it's really helping us because I can't tell you how many people want to join the cars want to join General Motors, whether it's a young engineering students or even seasoned industry veterans. A lot of people are looking to General Motors and wanting to be part of the future success story. So I think you know, the human factor And getting the right people in is always important and a challenge, but I think we're well positioned. I think the other thing is, you know, there's a whole area of, I would say, legislative and infrastructure challenges, you know, getting electrical charging in place in countries all over the world is not without challenge. And then, you know, as you move to the idea of removing the driver from the car, and these truly autonomous vehicles, that that comes with a lot, you know, obviously, we want to do that with safety as the absolute highest priority, as do all the communities and countries that we that we work in. So there's some pretty cautious and, you know, time consuming legislation, legislative hurdles that

Russ White 25:45
need to be overcome. But we're really, really exciting days ahead to be sure, Steve, and we've both mentioned your time it but at MSU. Take me back to why MSU was the place for you coming out of high school.

Steve Kiefer 25:57
Yeah, it's kind of a simple and interesting story. I was a I was a high school senior and I, I had first been accepted to MSU. And then to the University of Michigan, and those were the only two schools I applied to. I wasn't sure where I wanted to go, I had been a big U of M fan and my my middle school days and was became a bit of a Spartan fan in my, in my high school days. And it was as simple as two campus visits. I spent one weekend that and then Arbroath the University of Michigan with some friends and spent the next weekend at MSU. And, you know, I just really fell in love with the campus at MSU. I really nothing against our colleagues from U of M. But I quickly felt much more comfortable and felt like MSU was the right place for me. So I made that decision and never looked back. It was a great five years at MSU because I actually was a co op student with General Motors. So I took every other semester off to work at General Motors as a student, and just had a great experience college experience at MSU. I must admit, though, after graduating, I decided to go back to school to get an MBA, and I did go to Ann Arbor for that degree, but I have to say my heart is always in East Lansing.

Russ White 27:16
Tell me a little bit more Steve about then how your time at MSU did impact you and prepare you for where you are now, you know, and kind of what it means to you to be a Spartan?

Steve Kiefer 27:26
Well, you know, I must admit, in my, in my MSU days, we had some pretty rough years from from a, from a sporting and football performance level. So I think it taught me at a young age to, to know how to lose, which is important and to make sure you can, you can celebrate, and, and tolerate losing as much as you can celebrate and tolerate winning. But, you know, more importantly, I think from an education standpoint, I think the MSU education for engineering was was really good, really practical. I was actually part of a a baja team and Society of Automotive Engineering baja team where we actually built an off road vehicle and embraced it in a competition up at Michigan Tech. And, you know, surprisingly, that project of you know, actually designing, developing, building and racing a, an off road vehicle. It was a great educational experience, and really had a lot of, you know, sort of practical implications that kind of kind of helped me as I got into doing it at General Motors. And, Steve,

Russ White 28:40
if you can tell me a little bit more about your role on the College of Engineering Alumni Association advisory board, I think you've started to answer it by making sure the students are prepared for the future work ahead. But just what do you and your fellow board members work on?

Steve Kiefer 28:56
Yeah, it's, it's it's really an honor and a pleasure to serve. With the dean of engineering on these, on the advisory board, we meet regularly to talk about the progress that the that the engineering school is making some of the investments that the school is making, and really the, you know, just the dynamically changing curriculum that's required to prepare our MSU engineering students for the the industry ahead. I tried to be, you know, fairly vocal on the needs of the automotive industry, and specifically the needs of General Motors where we're one of the largest private employers of MSU graduates in the university. So we're, you know, we're, we're fairly important to the university from a hiring standpoint. And, you know, I'm usually trying to express you know, what it takes to be successful at General Motors and what we're seeing from our young engineering students and how we should alter curriculums to make sure that they can be most prepared and most successful for For an exciting career in the auto industry?

Russ White 30:02
Well, Steve, as we wrap up our conversation, let's circle back to the key for foundation. What would you like us to keep in mind about the foundation and its goals? And again, how can we help and get involved?

Steve Kiefer 30:12
Yeah, I would say a couple of things, I would say first, you know, really think about the idea of, you know, what would it feel like, if this happened to you, and I, you know, it's really hard to get people's attention involvement, until they personalize it. So, you know, I've just asked everyone to think about, you know, what would you do differently? What would you do to protect your your life and your children's life and your family, if you thought that something you could do different today might save them tomorrow from, you know, a distracted driving related accident. And, you know, that's, that's a hard thing to imagine. But I'd ask people to recognize that, you know, we never in our lives, imagine something like this could happen to us. And, you know, one day your your life is shattered. So So with that in mind, then I would just say, you know, a couple of additional things. The next I would just say, it's about personal accountability, because, you know, this is a behavioral change, and every one of us have to participate. I, I'm, I'm slightly embarrassed to admit, how actively distracted I used to drive before this happened to me, I was, I was somebody who could drive really well with my, with my knee on the wheel and looking at the phone in one hand, and, and maybe drinking a coffee in another. And I was I thought I was very cautious about it, because I knew the risk, but I still admit that I did it. And then it happens to you, and you realize just how senseless that is. So I would say from a personal accountability, if people could just really internalize that and say, I don't need to be on this phone, while I'm driving, it is just way too dangerous. And it's just not worth the, you know, the loss of your life or your children's life or the other people on the road. So you know, use tools like the, the Do Not Disturb mode and the safe drive mode that are readily available, commit to them, use them, keep your eyes on the road, drive safely, and make sure your children and all your friends are doing the same. That's kind of the easy first step. And if everybody could just do that we'd be we'd be in a better place. And then in a broader sense, for anyone that's willing to help us with the cause of hands free Michigan, I would just say be very vocal on your support of getting laws in place that will help make our roads safer. Speak to your senators, speak to your your congressman, speak to your you know, elected officials be vocal on this because it does have an impact. And, you know, we're seeing overwhelming support for these hands free laws. So there's just no reason why we shouldn't be able to push them over the edge and get these things implemented this year.

Russ White 32:55
Well, Steve, thank you so much for talking with me today and sharing Mitchell's story, and all you're doing to honor his legacy, I'm sure. While he's still in your heart. He's also smiling and proud looking down from heaven and appreciate all this great work. You're doing well

Steve Kiefer 33:11
again, Russ, thank you so much for the time, thank you for letting me tell the story. And I really hope that it has an impact on some of your listeners, and that we can get some support for the things we're doing. I hope everybody can stay safe and

Russ White 33:24
go green and go white. And please find more again at m key for that org that's mkefer.org or just Google the keefer Foundation. And I'm Russ white for the Spartan story on MSU today

Transcribed by https://otter.ai