Shocking New Ad from AT&T Targets Distracted Drivers
A new ad from wireless provider AT&T is attempting to scare drivers off their cell phones and into paying attention when behind the wheel. This video is part of a distracted driving campaign from AT&T called “It Can Wait.” As explained in an article posted on ABCNews.go.com, the ad walks through a scene viewers would likely see every day – a young boy riding his bike, a man chatting on his hands-free device while driving, a woman watering her lawn and a mother with her daughter in the back seat.
While the two drivers seem to be following safe procedures while behind the wheel, the woman driving with her daughter takes her eyes off the road for only a second to check something on her cell phone. In that short period of time, her car clips the front of the man’s truck which is traveling in the opposite direction which sends the vehicle flying. The video is a powerful reminder that distracted driving, even for just a single second, can put lives in danger and can have devastating consequences.
The executive director of the Governors Highway Safety Administration, Jonathan Adkins, said, “It is a powerful ad. When you look at it, you can identify with someone in your own family. It hits you pretty hard.” According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration more than 600,000 drivers are using their cellphones behind the wheel at any moment during the day. This equates to one in every ten drivers and statistics show this behavior has led to over 3,000 deaths linked to distracted driving.
While these statistics are startling and scary for everyone, Adkins states that ad campaigns like AT&T’s “It Can Wait” do make a difference and that their latest ad was and will be a “wake up call” for drivers. “We have looked at a number of different states and there has been a reduction in the number of crashes,” Adkins said in his interview is ABC News. “It makes you think [about] what you are doing and then you couple that with enforcement and tough laws and it does impact driver behavior.”
In addition to their latest ad campaign, AT&T has also developed and released their DriveMode app, which silences text message notifications while the phone’s owner is driving and they have also released their virtual reality application, also called “It Can Wait.” This app shows the user what can happen when they are behind the wheel and being distracted by their cell phone. “We are making progress and ads like this go a long way in raising the public awareness,” Adkins said.