Hold the Phone!

Put your phone down? That's what cell carriers, most notably AT&T are asking teen drivers to pledge to do while driving. As an increasing dependency on technology occurs, more drivers are finding it difficult to actually put their phone down for the time it takes them to get to their destinations. AT&T started its "It Can Wait" campaign in 2011 where it asks teens to sign a pledge that they will not text while they are driving their cars.

To spread the word of this campaign, AT&T made several commercials, which follow the characteristics of public communication. The three foci of public communication are the objective (the outcome the campaign wishes to achieve), the methods (in this instance it was commercials, and reform issues (who they are trying to influence).

The first commercial that was broadcasted was this commercial where they featured the story of a young man who had a severe brain injury as a result of him texting while driving. This commercial serves to inform teenagers what could happen to them if they were to text and drive. It's objective is to get teens to stop texting while driving, the methods were commercials on many of the major networks (and a lot of the not-so-major networks), and its reform issues were the teen drivers. The advertisement hopes to make this message sing in by using the shock factor. Maybe if teenagers saw that this could happen to them, many of them would stop texting. In theory, it is a good proposal but in real life? Not so much apparently. According to a study done by AT&T during this campaign, 97% of teenagers understand the risk of texting and driving, but 43% of them continue to do it regardless.

Teenagers are not the only ones texting while driving, according to both AT&T and PEW. Twenty-seven percent of adults admitted to texting while driving. Also, 41% of teenagers said that they have witnessed their parents sending text messages or emails while they are behing the wheel. This information definitely put a damper on AT&T's calls to action for teens. They began revising their campaign in to include not only teenagers, but also to indcude the adults who may or may not be texting while they are driving. 

While AT&T is trying to make drivers think twice about texting and driving, many other organizations are too. IT was a running joke with churches to put messages about not texting and driving on their signs outside the church. This message made people laugh when they first read it and when they realized the implications behind it, it helped to reinforce AT&T[s message.

AT&T's new goal is to get the message out to any person who may be behind the wheel, regardless of age. The company has also been working with its developers to help drivers accomplish this. "Driving apps" for smartphones are nothing new; they have been around for a while, but AT&T is working on perfecting theirs. They call it "AT&T Driver Mode," and it's a nifty little app that could benefit a lot of people.

Basically what happens is the app gets activated by the user whey they get in the car. Then, when the car gets over 25 mph the app blocks all incoming calls, texts, email and voicemail alerts. If a text or email comes in, an automated response is sent to the person attempting to contact the driver saying something along the lines of "I'm driving right now, I'll get back to you soon." As an added fail-safe the app allows for one music and one GPS-like application to be activated so they can still be used. Also, the driver is allowed to pick 5 numbers they are allowed to call while driving (be it parents, work, housemates, etc), and 911 will always be able to be accessed in the event of an emergency. This app would allow the driver to get the best of everything they could need in a car (music and directions), while severely limiting the distractions that they may incur while behind the wheel of a car.

How about you? Will you take AT&T's pledge to drive safely? Or, if you don't like theirs, will you at least make your own?  Take responsibility for your safety and the safety of others while driving in your car.

~ Mike Bobrin, Regina Kozakiewicz, Daniel Morales, Brittany Specht

Posted in: Public Campaigns, Technology