More than 43 million of us are expected to travel during the long holiday weekend 50 miles or more to see family, friends, go shopping or attend a sporting event—according to the AAA.
Road trips and connecting with loved ones are as much a part of the Thanksgiving tradition as a big turkey dinner. Combining the two by texting while driving- is a recipe for disaster.
Texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be in an accident. The significance of that multiplier is astounding! Just imagine if you had to prepare a Thanksgiving meal for 23 times more guests than expected.
The risk is significant, and completely unnecessary.
Please consider taking a personal pledge never to text and drive at www.ItCanWait.com.
There’s something else we can do to help end texting and driving. We can speak up. Research shows that it works. A ConnectSafely.org survey sponsored by AT&T found that:
- 78% of teen drivers say they’re likely not to text and drive if friends tell them it's wrong or stupid.
- 90% say they’d stop if a friend in the car asked them to.
- 93% would stop if a parent in the car asked them to.
- 44% say that they would be thankful if a passenger complained about their texting while driving.
Look at that last data point! It’s not surprising that nine in 10 teens would stop texting while driving if a passenger asked them to, but it’s an eye opener that more than 4 in 10 would be “thankful” if a passenger asked them to stop. This should remove any hesitation on our part to voice the danger and help to keep everybody in the car safe.
Let’s all be advocates for change. As we wish loved ones safe travels this holiday season, let’s also remind them that no text is worth the risk of an accident that could change a life- in a fact a whole family's worth of lives – forever. It really can wait.
