In recent weeks, Distracted Driving has gotten major air time due to Oprah's No Phone Zone show. Oprah has millions of viewers and inspires many. She feels so strongly about the dangers of cell phone use in the car, she dedicated an entire show to Distracted Driving, and encouraged people to take the No Phone Zone Pledge. (@Oprah)
Inspired by Oprah, the station director of 11 Alive News (@11AliveNews) in Atlanta, Georgia, moved swiftly to create a safe driving initiative for Atlanta The Great Hang Up. People can print a pledge to not text, email or talk on their phone while driving their car. The station then encourages you to leave your pledge in your car as a reminder. The station has dedicated large chunks of air time to making people aware of the dangers of distracted driving. They captured 30 hours of video people trying to make it through a closed course while talking on the cell phone and driving, or texting and driving. There is no question, the Distracted Drivers they caught on film struggled greatly trying to handle two complex tasks at once. They are also getting personal stories of people who have lost loved ones due to accidents involving cell phones. It would be great to see more news stations across the country follow 11 Alive's lead.
Thank You Oprah! Thank You 11 Alive! Pick a pledge....sign it...and then spread the word. Help end distracted driving.
Distracted Driving = Dangerous Driving
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In Ontario Canada we have a hands-free law, all cell devices must be bluetooth enabled to keep our hands on the steering wheel. The law went into full effect on Feb.1, there was a 3 month grace period of warnings. I bought my bluetooth $20Cdn Nokia before the law's grace period, I've used it since I bought it. I never dialled while in motion, and neither should you. Donttwive can attest to my safety awareness, just read my webpage for more proof.
ReplyDeleteI just wanted to thank you guys for putting together this blog as the more people getting involved in the movement, the better. As someone who reports and writes daily blog posts on car accidents, it was getting extremely frustrating seeing a large number of them being the result of distracted or texting while driving. So while our campaign is obviously not on the same level as Oprah's or even 11 Alive news', we are trying slowly but surely to spread the word here in Seattle. Feel free to check it out if you like at www.teensagainstdistracteddriving.com.
ReplyDeleteThanks again for your work!