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1. For more information, contact:
Sarah Briggs, Public Affairs Holly Hollingsworth, Media Relations
Office: 614-223-7641 Office: 614-223-5711
E-mail: sarah.briggs@att.com E-mail: holly.hollingsworth@att.com
AT&T CHALLENGES LOCAL TEENS TO JOIN
“IT CAN WAIT” MOVEMENT TO HALT TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
AT&T Simulator Event at Colerain High School Encourages Students and
Faculty to Pledge Not to Text and Drive
CINCINNATI, February 25, 2013 — Representatives from Colerain High School joined AT&T,
State Representative Louis Blessing III, AAA and the Ohio State Highway Patrol today to
address a dangerous practice that puts millions of Americans at risk: texting while driving.
To drive home the message and make our roads and highways safer, AT&T brought an
automobile-based simulator, allowing students and faculty to experience firsthand the dangers
of texting and driving. The students also heard from the organizations regarding Ohio’s texting
ban, House Bill 99, which passed the Ohio General Assembly last year and went into affect in
the fall. House Bill 99 also contained a 6 month grace period which ends on March 1st.
“Texting and driving is a perilous mix. It endangers your own life and the lives of people you’ve
never even met,” said State Rep. Louis Blessing III. “I’m proud to join AT&T’s effort to remind
drivers, especially our teenagers, of the potentially deadly consequences of texting while driving
and the fact that this dangerous practice is now illegal across Ohio.”
“More than 100,000 times each year, an automobile crashes and people are injured or die while
a driver was texting and driving,” said Mark Romito, Director, External Affairs, AT&T Ohio, citing
a statistic from the National Safety Council1.
“Our goal is to save lives,” Romito said. “AT&T applauds the efforts of the Ohio General
Assembly – as well as Governor Kasich – on their efforts to pass and sign into law House Bill
99, the statewide texting while driving ban, which took effect last fall.”
In 2012, 165 organizations, including national nonprofits, commercial businesses, law
enforcement, professional associations and government agencies, as well as many educators,
legislators, and other supporters, helped get out the message and encouraged people to make
2. a personal pledge not to text and drive. This combined effort, including those of the Federal
Communications Commission, the U.S. Department of Transportation, National Organizations
for Youth Safety, SADD, Big Brothers Big Sisters, RadioShack and CTIA-The Wireless
Association, made a difference. Major highlights include:
Awareness of the It Can Wait message increased 26 percent during the key campaign
period.1
One-in-three people in that period said that texting while driving messages have an
impact on their driving habits.1
More than 1.2 million no-texting-while-driving pledges were made at ItCanWait.com and
through Facebook, Twitter, live events and text-to-pledge initiatives.
“Distracted driving is an epidemic on our roadways, and we need people all across Ohio to take
action in their communities to help put a stop to it," said Colonel John Born, Ohio State Highway
Patrol superintendent.
In 2013, AT&T is extending its work with existing It Can Wait collaborators and significantly
expanding their ranks. Plans include:
Working with device makers to pre-load no-texting-while-driving technologies and
solutions into handsets, with the goal of making these solutions standard on all AT&T
smartphones.
Engaging cities such as Houston, Texas, and companies including USAA and Walmart
to discuss potential new It Can Wait collaborations.
Making resources – ranging from It Can Wait branded materials, to teaching aids and
sample company policies – available to other organizations for programs they develop.
Launching a year-round texting-while-driving simulator tour targeting more than 380
events nationwide.
AT&T, its 240,000 employees and other supporters are calling on all drivers to go to
www.ItCanWait.com to take the no-texting-while-driving pledge, and then share their promise
with others via Twitter (#itcanwait) and Facebook. The pledge is part of the public awareness
campaign aimed directly at stopping the dangerous practice of texting while driving.
1
AT&T TWD - ICW Perceptions Study
2
