By now you have read me talk a lot about the #ItCanWait campaign. It is a campaign designed to educate drivers about the dangerous of texting and driving. If you have not taken the pledge yet, it it not too late. Visit ItCanWait.com and take the pledge now.
Want to do even more? Today is National Drive 4 Pledges Day. The day was started with a kick off event in Washington, DC. And now other groups and advocates around the US are joining in to spread the word. And you should too.
Today you can use your voice to spread the word about how important it is to not text and drive. Advocates across the country are joining in to help save lives. In fact I am hosting my own It Can Wait/Drive 4 Pledges event tonight. I will be joined by some mom friends, current teen drivers, and kids that will be drivers before we know it. You can help too. We are encouraging everyone who cares about someone (or themselves) to commit to ending texting while driving. Join in and spread the word in your school, organizations, club, or wherever! Encourage your friends to get involved and do the same.
Here are some startling facts that you may not know about texting and driving:
- Texting and driving makes you 23 times more likely to be in an accident
- More than 100,000 texting-related accidents every year result in injuries or deaths
- 90% of teens say they’d stop texting and driving if a friend in the car simply asked them
- 97% of teen drivers agree that texting and driving is dangerous
- 75% of teens say that texting and driving is common among their friends
- 43% of teens admit to texting and driving
- 49% of adult commuters admit to texting and driving
- 77% of teens say that adults tell them not to text and drive, but do it themselves “all the time”
Those numbers are quite high. Think about it… where do you fall on the scale? You do not want to be a statistic. That is unless of course you are a statistic when talking about helping and prevention. Be a good statistic. Set a great example for your children. Do not text and drive. Take the pledge. Spread the word to others about the dangers.
Here is Chicago traffic is bad enough on its own without the added turmoil of texting and driving.
Disclosure: This post is part of my involvement in the AT&T It Can Wait campaign. All opinions are my own.
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