AT&T Drives Home the Dangers of Texting While Driving
We all know that texting and driving is dangerous, but did you know that people who text and drive are 23x more likely to be in a crash?
I got to experience firsthand what it’s like to text and drive by sitting in AT&T’s Virtual Texting-While-Driving Simulator. While driving around a virtual city, you receive text messages on a cellphone mounted next to the dashboard, with questions like “What would you like for dinner?” or “Could you pick up a pizza on your way home?” – you then need to respond while avoiding running red lights and crazy drivers, easier said than done. The simulator tours around the country and will be in over 200 locations by the end of the year. Or, you can check it out online at itcanwaitsimulator.org.
The AT&T Drive Mode App
In support of the “It Can Wait” campaign, AT&T has launched a free app for AT&T customers on both Android (free in Google Play) and Blackberry (free in Blackberry AppWorld) that once enabled, detects the speed of your vehicle. Start driving over 25 MPH, the app will auto-reply to any incoming text messages letting the sender know that you’re driving and will respond once it’s safe to do so.
There’s a number of other materials that AT&T has developed worth checking out including a ten minute documentary and teen-developed materials to educate their peers on the dangers of texting and driving. You can check out everything that AT&T is doing at their It Can Wait website.
Subscribe to the Techlicious Daily Email!
Get the Techlicious Guide to Great Photography as your FREE gift!
You Might Also Like...
Discussion 
Technology should be part of the solution...
Texting is an efficient communications medium, a powerful fund raising tool and even a crime reporting method - to name a few upsides. But I also think technology should be able to help us facilitate unplugging - especially when driving down the highway in 5000 pounds of steel and glass.
After my three year old daughter was nearly run down by a texting driver in 2009, I invented an app to manage texting whether the user is at home, in the office or on the road. Its simple and easy to schedule “texting blackout periods” with all notifications silenced so you can focus on the task at hand without feeling disconnected from your social network. Teens can study or sleep and adults…well maybe we can remind ourselves that technology should be complimenting our lives and not the other way around.
Erik Wood, owner
OTTER app(Since 2010; Free on all Android carriers)
do one thing well… be great.
Simulator never sent messages to my phone
From Silver Fang on October 12, 2012 :: 8:47 pm
I activated the email address I use on my phone with the simulator, but never received a single message in-game. Rather disappointed.
Reply