We have been hearing about texting while driving for the last five years, but it still seems to be an addiction among millions of drivers. In the United States, there were more than 3,000 deaths in 2011 that were directly linked to being distracted while driving. In the same year, the number of injuries increased drastically to almost 400,000. With that many incidents, one would assume that texting while driving would dramatically decrease.
Campaigns have been going out all across the country for drivers to make a pledge to stop texting while operating a vehicle. Several states across the U.S. have outlawed the use of handheld devices, specifically texting, while driving. Some states have taken it a step further to include talking on cell phones while driving.
It seems that most of the texting while driving is coming from adults and not teens. According to a survey that was taken, 49% of commuters have admitted to texting on their way to and from work. In that same survey, 98% of those commuters acknowledged that cell phone texting is a big risk.
AT & T, one of the top three cell phone service providers, launched a campaign to educate drivers on the safety issues involved in texting while driving. Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile US, Inc., along with several hundred organizations and thousands of retail stores, are aware of the seriousness of this epidemic and have come on board with AT & T in their effort to combat the problem.
The campaign started by AT & T, known as It Can Wait, is due to kick off on the Memorial Holiday weekend and will run throughout the summer months when there are hundreds of thousands travelers are on the highways. The awareness of the It Can Wait campaign will be heard through car radios while driving to and from vacation destinations. Social media sites will be saturated throughout the next four months with the It Can Wait campaign. Television stations will have coverage of the campaign with appeals for viewers to take a pledge not to text while driving.
The organization known as Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD) will have speakers in schools across the U.S. and at different community functions. The SADD focus will be on attracting teens through young speakers and interviews with teens.
AT & T has created a tour to simulate texting while driving. The tours are planned to go out around the country which are to include military bases. They have also incorporated an app, which was created by Pantech on their phones. The DriveMode app is available as a free download to AT & T customers. The app has been designed with auto responses to incoming texts, emails and wireless phone calls. The feature will automatically send out a reply to an incoming text to notify the sender of your presence behind the wheel and of your impending response as soon as you are safe to do so.
The It Can Wait campaign has plans for a two day event to be held in Las Vegas with high profile entertainers, jumping on the band wagon so to speak, to spread the message of the dangers of texting while driving.
On September 19, supporters of The It Can Wait campaign will saturate their own communities with activities and events that will bring to the forefront, the safety issues that are involved with texting while driving. This date will be known as a “national day of recognition” to give the opportunity for any concerned citizens to interact with the campaign.
A website has been created at www.ItCanWait.com for anyone wishing to make the pledge, to sign up.
This article was submitted by Joann Miller. She is a social media blogger and tech enthusiast . She is currently a contributor to Pennsylvania Internet Providers.Information in this article was obtained from the AT&T website.