The phone call, the text, the snap: It Can Wait. Selfie taking and video calling can wait as well. Distracted driving is never OK. Never. How many accidents/fatalities do we have to read about before it becomes clear to everyone that It Can Wait?
AT&T’s “It Can Wait” initiative just reached 20 million pledges to not drive distracted. Please support this campaign!
Are you guilty of driving distracted? I once answered a text on my smartphone when I was in my car. I was stopped at a light, but lights change from red to green. Then what? It was my mom texting, and she was watching my son. No matter how important it was, it was not important enough to risk a car accident. Luckily, I got a ticket from a policeman watching me, so I learned my lesson before anyone got hurt, and vowed never to do it again. That was the tipping point for me.
See me texting above, in a parked, stopped car? This is also not a good idea, when the person you are texting answers, you may have started driving and then you have left yourself open to the temptation of checking the text. Fight distracted driving by not initiating communication when you get in the car!
Now that AT&T has reached the 20 million pledge milestone they are going to donate $20,000 to Students Against Destructive Decisions (SADD), a safety-focused partner organization. To celebrate reaching 20 million pledges, they are asking you, my readers, and everyone else, to share what “It Can Wait” means to you and why the campaign is important. Instructions are below for you to take the pledge as well.
This campaign is more important then ever. Look how accessible my phone is when I am driving. The car companies now have USB ports to make smartphone charging easier than ever! If you are charging your smartphone in the car, you may be tempted to respond to a text if your notifications are on. Don’t do it! If communication is that important, pull off of the road before responding! How about we circumvent this temptation by making sure our smartphones are charged before we leave the house. Then, do not take your phone out of your pocket or bag when you get in the car, because whatever it is, IT CAN WAIT! Distracted driving is never O.K.
Are you a distracted driver? Do you know someone else? AT&T is trying to build awareness around distracted driving so that we can prevent it, and therefore have safer roadways. Click below to take the pledge!
When you are in the car, the AT&T DriveMode App is a way for you to join in the AT&T It Can Wait movement – minimizing distractions while driving to help keep eyes on the road. The AT&T DriveMode App helps people to curb the urge to text and drive, and is available on Apple § Google Play:
• AT&T DriveMode is a free app available to customers of all wireless carriers for iPhone and Android users.
• It is available in Spanish.
• It can silence incoming alerts and phone calls so you stay focused while driving, it helps to have this temptation taken away!
• Its auto mode feature automatically turns on the app when you reach 15 MPH and turns it off after you stop.
• AT&T DriveMode can help keep young drivers safe by sending a message to a parent if the app is turned off. ( I cannot wait to use this once my teenager starts to drive.)
• The campaign has resulted in more than 14 million downloads of the app, so far! Download it today
To learn more, visit and follow @ItCanWait on Twitter.
HOW YOU CAN HELP RIGHT NOW!
- Leave me a comment on how you will start to fight the urge to drive while distracted.
- Why do you think this campaign is important? Take a photo or video with your thoughts and tweet using #ItCanWait.
- Send a tweet! Tell us you took the pledge!
Lastly, listen to my story about when we were confronted with a texting driver:
Disclosure: “This is a sponsored blog post and I was compensated by AT&T. All thoughts and opinions are my own.”
As an extra reminder, my spouse sent me a message that my car read to me out loud:
I love this. I see SO Many people swerving all over the road because they are texting and driving or talking on the phone. Those people scare me.
This is something so important to remember, specially to young people! I see so many reckless drivers keeping their eyes on their phones instead of the road. This is so dangerous! Thanks Mitch for this post!!!
Hoping that everyone out there sees this pledge! So important.
This campaign is so important! I see so many people on the road traveling at 70 mph and texting! What?! Please, don’t kill me, texting drivers!
A very good cause to back, sorry you got a ticket. It is all for the best because you are a convert and so much safer now.
When I take the express bus into the city in the mornings I see tons of distracted drivers on their phones and quite frankly it scares me to death, distracted driving is just as dangerous as drunk driving!
Yes, great point!
Such an important topic, not just for teens but adults, too. Thanks for sharing the info!
This is such an important initiative! Now that I have a teen driver and see some of the things that happen on the road, it is terrifying! Our son is really great about putting the phone away and not texting or talking while driving. Actually, I think some of the worst offenders are adults!
This is such a great campaign. I always put my phone on silent when driving so I am not tempted to look at it.
I lead by example with my girls. I have never used my phone while driving and never will. I do hope this pledge goes viral and many people, young and old, take the pledge. You are right, texting and driving is not worth it!
I’d heard about their app, but I didn’t know people who had phones other than AT&T could use it. Very cool. I’ll have to check it out.
That is amazing! I love that it has reached over 20 million! That’s a lot of people who are promising to drive safe. It’s really important that we do so.
I love this! It’s really important that we learn how to put our phones down when driving! There’s been way to many accidents and lives lost because of this! I think this campaign is amazing.
Glad to hear that AT&T is getting the word out about being safe! Too many people are hurt, or worse, killed, over silly things like a selfie. It’s not worth it!
I NEVER use my phone while driving. If I am following someone, I can always tell if they are on the phone or not. That is a scary truth.
There are so many things that can go wrong when you’re driving and you’re using your phone. This is such an awesome program from AT&T, kudos to them for starting this.
Distracted driving is so serious. It’s important to not answer texts while driving. I’m glad AT&T has this iniative.
Way to go At&t, I love this carrier! This campaign is super important, I see people all the time doing this and it’s so dangerous!
This is such a great initiative. I have a teen driver and I want to make sure she drives without distraction.
It is so nice that AT&T is initiating this. Driving while using phone is so dangerous, numerous accidents was caused by it so we should be really following this simple rule.
I hate when people do that. Im glad to see when organizations do something about it.
I love this, it’s so important to remember that driving and using your phone really is a danger. Especially teaching our young kiddos as they are getting older and driving.
It’s really great that so many people are committing to this. It’s a big issue! Distracted driving is no joke!
I took the pledge last year! I think it makes a difference because texting and driving still happens and we still see accidents from it!
What an amazing campaign! It is scary how often I see younger people driving distracted and adults! That is wonderful that they are donating $20,000 to SADD! What a great way to help. I am going to take the pledge and have my niece to since she will be getting her driver’s license this year.
I love this campaign. Texting and just looking at your phone period can wait, I got into a car accident last year and it just reminds me how quick things can happen in a second. We all need to make sure we are paying attention to the road without distractions.
My kids are getting older and closer to driving age. I’m really working on being a good role model as they near driving age and making sure that I’m not distracted. Trouble is those darn kids are distracting.
This is such a great campaign! I participated in this one year and loved spreading the word about such a good cause.
We got to push this It Can Wait Campaign. I wish all drivers will be responsible enough to not text and drive.
This is what I keep reminding my kids every time they leave – “No texting! No distracted driving!” I trust my kids that they know the importance of this. However, not all drivers comply. I hope this campaign reaches more and more people. We need every one to be responsible drivers.
This is such a pet peeve of mine watching people do it all of the time. I’m the nagging voice apparently missing from their conscience.