Texting and Driving Simulator Comes to FAMU

By: AT&T Press Release Email

Updated: Fri 7:43 PM, Nov 09, 2012

AT&T Release: Simulator to steer local students away from texting and driving

WHAT: When it comes to texting and driving, it can wait. That is the simple, yet vital message AT&T is sending drivers, particularly teens. To drive home the message, AT&T is bringing a simulator to the FAMU 125th Homecoming festivities so students can experience first-hand the dangers of texting behind the wheel. Teenagers - who text on average 60 times a day - are especially at risk because they're inexperienced drivers and texting is their No. 1 of communication. We hope all students, faculty, parents and visitors will learn to think twice when behind the wheel after visiting the simulator this weekend. We expect over 9,000 people to pass by the simulator/tent this weekend.

WHO: The simulator is part of AT&T's aggressive Textng & Driving...It Can Wait public awareness campaign. The goal of the It Can Wait movement is to save lives and make texting and driving as unacceptable as drinking and driving. Since the campaign was announced in 2009, AT&T has:
* Recognized Sept. 19, 2012 as national "No Text on Board" pledge day, encouraging drivers nationwide to make a lifetime commitment to stop texting and driving;
* Introduced an online simulation experience at www.itcanwait.com that allows anyone with access to the Internet to get behind the wheel, virtually, and see what happens when you text and drive;
* Designed the free AT&T DriveMode mobile application to help curb texting behind the wheel;
* Developed "The Last Text," a powerful 10-minute documentary featuring real stories of individual lives that have been drastically altered - or even ended - because of texting while driving.
* Created a resource center - att.com/itcanwait.com - offering downloadable educational resources for parents and educators;
* Designed a pledge for our Facebook, Friends & Family and employee pages;
* Integrated anti-texting-while-driving messaging in our more than 2,200 company-owned stores, including device clings for new smartphones;
* Announced a four-year, million-dollar commitment toward initiatives that educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving;
* Developed a Youth Advisory Panel, made up of students of AT&T employees, to design and administer an ongoing campaign to spread the anti-texting-while-driving message to their peers at their schools throughout the year; and
* Awarded more than $30,000 in prizes to app developers participating in a hackathon to develop technology solutions to help curb texting and driving.

WHEN: Friday & Saturday, 11/9 & 11/10
12pm - 3pm

WHERE: FAMU
1800 Wahnish Way, Tallahassee, FL 32307
Friday: In front of Al Lawson Center at 1800 Wahnish Way
Saturday: Behind the Al Lawson Center on FAMU football practice field

"A text can wait. This message can't," said Marshall Criser, lll, president, AT&T Florida. "In the United States, someone is killed or injured once every five minutes on average in a crash that happens while a driver is texting and driving."

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