Last updated: October 5, 2021
Distracted driving initiatives:
Nationwide Insurance says it is “advocating for state lawmakers across the country to enact hands-free legislation.” “We feel a moral imperative to create a mindset where distracted driving is viewed just as culturally unacceptable and undesirable as driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs,” Nationwide CEO Kirt Walker said Feb. 11. The insurer is urging the National Council of Insurance Legislators “to draft model legislation that other states can use for implementation across the country.” Nationwide was short on specifics, but said it was “looking forward to working with officials across the country to raise awareness and to advocate for this change.”
The Ad Council and Project Yellow Light invite high school and college students to create a TV, radio or billboard PSA to educate peers about distracted driving. 2019 marks the eighth year for the project. Winners receive unspecified scholarship funding and “the opportunity for national media exposure for their winning entries.” AT&T’s It Can Wait and Apparent Insurance are supporting the initiative, joining longstanding partners CBS 2 New York, Clear Channel Outdoor, iHeartMedia, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the National Organizations for Youth Safety. Billboard submissions are due March 1; radio and video submissions are due April 1. View details of the distracted driving media competition.
Volkswagen in Sweden is using the mangled metal from distracted driving wrecks to build iPhone 8 cases. The startling public-safety campaign comes in response to the alarming number of crashes since the country enacted a distracted driving law earlier in 2018. “We believe a phone case made by unfortunate cars makes you think twice before you pick up your phone,” a spokesman for Volkswagen Stockholm said. Read more about VW’s crashed cases campaign.
Agriculture giant Cargill has adopted a total ban on cell phone use by employees when they are driving. The move by the diversified Minnesota corporation became effective Jan. 1, 2017. Cargill’s policy affects about 150,000 employees. The rules apply to all cell phone use, regardless of whether a hands-free device is employed. The National Safety Council — which advocates a total cell phone ban for drivers — said Cargill is the largest private corporation to adopt such a policy.
Auto insurer Geico is investing $1.3 million in New York State efforts to curb distracted driving. The insurer is sponsoring signs pointing to 52 “text stops” along state highways. “The idea is to get people to pull over to do anything that would require them to look away from the road,” Geico said Sept. 1, 2016. The insurer also will fund posters at the texting zones warning against distracted driving. Department of Transportation Commissioner Matthew Driscoll said the partnership “supports New York’s broad efforts to curb distracted driving and the traffic safety hazards it creates.”
Longtime distracted driving campaigner Gov. Andrew Cuomo has teamed up with Avis Budget Group for a PSA push. The New York governor said Avis would feature a pair of public service announcements on its online-reservation confirmation pages for customers renting a vehicle in New York State. “These announcements will help amplify public awareness about the dangers of distracted driving, and I thank Avis Budget Group for working with us to keep people safe,” Cuomo said in a press release July 6. Joe Ferraro, president for the Americas of Avis Budget Group noted: “Distracted driving is that much more dangerous when people are driving an unfamiliar vehicle in an unfamiliar area, which is typically the case with car rentals.” The public service announcements also will be seen on the state’s social media channels and broadcast TV.
Seven in 10 people who own smartphones and use them daily engage in some form of smartphone activity while driving, a survey conducted for wireless carrier AT&T shows. Most of those activities are against the law, depending on the state. Almost half of drivers distracted by their smartphones are busy using social media, the survey suggests. AT&T said May 19, 2015, that it would expand its It Can Wait distracted driving campaign to include the social media elements. “When we launched It Can Wait five years ago, we pleaded with people to realize that no text is worth a life,” said Lori Lee of AT&T global marketing. “The same applies to other smartphone activities that people are doing while driving.” Read more about the social media & driving survey. Read the AT&T It Can Wait press release.
What a load of bull. Everything they were doing in the video is legal and encouraged by NY State. All you have to do is put something in your ear so that nobody knows you’re driving distracted, especially the police. To call Cuomo a “long time campaigner against distracted driving” is also a load of bull. By encouraging people to talk on a hands-free phone or text by voice is, in effect, encouraging distracted driving.
I agree. Como is just interested in the issue. He’s done nothing to actually discourage distracted driving.