Texting and driving has become one of the leading causes of death or severe injury to a motorist or passengers involved in a motor vehicle accident. With at least 25% of car accidents being caused by distracted drivers, there are many different campaigns that have been created to help and bring awareness to these types of incidents and have even gone as far as starting to ask people to take a pledge and not drive distracted. Cell phones have become one of the biggest if not main distractions with its many uses ranging from texting, voice and video calls, to browsing the web, and checking your emails or even something as entertaining as playing games.
The Ad Council, America's leading producer of public service communications, is one of the many organizations campaigning to bring awareness and cause change in this growing epidemic. The Ad Council has paired up with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and marketed this campaign through their website adcouncil.org, tv, radio ads and billboard. Links to some of these advertisements and similar campaigns can be found when visiting adcouncil.org.
AT&T, one of the top 4 cell phone companies in the U.S. has launched a campaign called It Can Wait (itcanwait.com). In their website, AT&T has created a way for folks visiting their page to experience what it would be like to be involved in one of these incidents through video and even a 360° experience! These methods of advertising used by the campaign use pathos to get to their audience. After watching the video or navigating through the 360° experience you are left emotional and ready to sign the petition or take their 21 day challenge. The best part is that they have even created an application you can download to your phone to help you minimize distractions while driving.
