AT&T today announced the commitment of Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile and 200 + organizations to join their It Can Wait movement to end texting while driving.
Texting while driving involved in more than 100,000 car accidents a year (National Safety Council) and makes drivers 23 times more likely to be involved in a wreck
The summer-long initiative kicks off on May 20th and will be supported by a new national advertising campaign featuring people who are living with the consequences of texting while driving, a large-scale nationwide texting-while-driving simulator tour, major retail presence in tens of thousands of stores, and more.
Verizon Wireless suggests the free app Safely Go:
Allows only calls and texts only from your 3 “VIP Contacts” (like your family or boss)
Tells everyone else you’re on the road and driving safely, through automatic text replies
Enables calls through your Bluetooth or other hands-free device
Gives you access only to your top 3 “Driving Apps” (like maps, navigation, or music)
Do you, like most people, find it hard to stay focused on the road while your cell phone tempts you? But is turning it off the best way to curb texting-while-driving? Let Safely Go receive your calls and texts, keeping you connected and responsible, and making you — and the road — safer.
The campaign, aimed at educating drivers to change behaviors that will ultimately help save lives, will run throughout the summer months between Memorial Day and Labor Day, deemed by AAA as the “100 Deadliest Days” for teen drivers.