AT&T is launching a nationwide campaign to raise cognisance about the dangers of texting while drive , necessitate Americans to take a pledge to never hire in the practice .
AT&T ’s Take the Pledge crusade
The telecom giant has designated Sept. 19 as the appointment for its national pledge drive , but is urging users in the meantime to chat thesiteit has set up for the “ It Can Wait ” campaign , offering a inter-group communication to the pledge and other resources emphasise the message that “ no text is worth give way for . ”
AT&T’s Take the Pledge campaign
“ We ’ve come to a situation where masses are using the technology in ways that are literally unsafe , ” AT&T CEO Randal Stephenson say in a video describing AT&T ’s cause to curb drug user ’ texting habits . “ And we have immature multitude being hurt , we have young the great unwashed being killed by not being responsible in term of how they use this technology . ”
AT&T quote a study by the National Safety Council tallying 100,000 car accident each year that involved a number one wood who was texting .
Alarming statistics like those have caught the attention of government agencies and industry groups , which have been developed their own education and public - refuge campaigns . CTIA , the principal barter group present the wireless industry , has for the preceding several yr been run a series of multimedia system advertising monish against using mobile devices while driving .
CTIA President and CEO Steve Largent hailed AT&T ’s It Can Wait campaign , calling it one of the “ vital and effective components to the industry ’s mission of creating a safer driving surround . ”
The head of the Department of Transportation , which has been waggle its own attempt to inhibit texting while drive , was similarly burbly .
“ distrait driving is an epidemic on our roadway , and we need hoi polloi all across America to take action mechanism in their communities to help put a full point to it , ” Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement . “ I applaud AT&T for demand on this issue with the ‘ It Can Wait ’ movement , and I thank them for aid to spread the word that no text or email is worth the risk of infection . ”
Julius Genachowski , chairperson of the Federal Communications Commission , swash the campaign ’s potential difference to “ facilitate make texting and driving as unacceptable as imbibition and driving . ”
“ All of us must be part of the solution , recognizing that while mobile technologies offer enormous welfare , they create new challenges we must tackle together , ” Genachowski said .
As part of the It Can await enterprisingness , AT&T plans to launch what it discover as a full - dullard cognizance campaign , running advert on social media situation Facebook and Twitter and enlist television and music famous person to mouth out on the emergence .
AT&T articulate it will concentrate television set advertising on high - visibility events and program that ply to adolescent audience . The firm also enounce that it will aim to distribute an informational toolkit with resources about texting while driving to every eminent school in the country .
In a late sight that AT&T deport , 97 per centum of teenagers polled acknowledge that texting while driving is dangerous , but 75 percent said that the praxis was “ usual ” among their friends .
AT&T is calling on its 240,000 employees to entrust to its toast , and plans to instruct its retail and call - center employees to help broadcast the subject matter to consumers .
Additionally , AT&T is calling on equipment makers and app developer to collaborate on technology that would be pre - fuddled in French telephone to foresee texting while driving , building on applications such as the drive manner app that AT&T presently offers , which when enable sends an automatic reception to an incoming school text message signal that the substance abuser is behind the bike .
“ The world is locomote to begin to see how serious we are about this ” Stephenson say .
[ Kenneth Corbin is a Washington , D.C.-based writer who covers government and regulative issue for CIO.com . ]
