The four biggest cellphone companies in the U.S. are joining together to launch their first joint advertising campaign against testing while driving.
AT&T, Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile will be joined by over 200 other countries backing the multi-million dollar advertising campaign according to the Associated Press.
"Every CEO in the industry that you talk to recognizes that this is an issue that needs to be dealt with," AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said to the Associated Press. "I think we all understand that pooling our resources with one consistent message is a lot more powerful than all four of us having different messages and going different directions."
The advertisements will use AT&T's "It Can Wait" slogan, and will appear on TV and radio this summer.
The campaign is unique in many ways because it unites rivals who are warning people against the dangers of their own products.
Back in 2005, Sprint Nextel created an educational program to help teens learning how to drive. Verizon and AT&T have produced ads against texting while driving since 2009.
"There's no question that phone use is causing crashes. But so far it doesn't appear to be adding to the overall crash problem," says Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute of Highway Safety, which is funded by the insurance industry.
AT&T Inc called texting and driving an "epidemic," a term also used by the federal Department of Transportation.
Stephenson also said recently that texting while driving makes you 23 times more likely to be involved in a crash, a number confirmed by the National Highway Transportation Administration.
"The institute's analysis is based in part on comparing accident rates before and after states enact bans on hand-held cellphone use while driving," Rader said according to the Associated Press. "Most states ban cellphone use at least for some drivers; 39 states and the District of Columbia ban text messaging for all drivers.
Distraction.gov site pointed out that cellphones "are the greatest danger among all sources of driver distraction" according to the Associated Press. In an interview last year, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said that in 2010, 3,092 lives "could have been saved if someone had the sense to put down their cellphone."
The "It Can Wait" campaign will last until September, Stephenson said, but it could continue if the companies reach a longer agreement.
"We have people using our technology, and when they use our technology it has some rather traumatic impacts on society," Stephenson said according to the Associated Press. "I think it's a logical place for us to engage."
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