AT&T, LEBANON VALLEY COLLEGE TEAM UP TO PREVENT DISTRACTED DRIVING
Annville, PA
02/18/2016 01:03 PM
As part of the company’s It Can Wait initiative, AT&T * teamed up with Lebanon Valley College (LVC) to help prevent distracted driving. The company set up a virtual reality (VR) simulator in the Mund College Center, giving the campus community a chance to experience how dangerous it can be when drivers take their eyes off the road to look at their smartphones. The simulator is running today until 2 p.m.
“We launched It Can Wait six years ago for one reason: to save lives,” said David Kerr, AT&T’s regional vice president for External Affairs in Pennsylvania. “ Simply put, using a smartphone while driving can be deadly - for drivers, their passengers and for everyone on the road, and we’re grateful to the team at LVC for helping us spread this important message.”
Today’s event is the second of four this week in Pennsylvania - and is among more than 300 scheduled for communities nationwide this year. The tour kicked off yesterday at Central Dauphin High School. Other stops this week include Johnstown and Pittsburgh.
The tour is an immersive experience, delivered through Samsung Gear VR, with premium sound from Bose QuietComfort® 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones. Google Cardboard is a resource that lets people use their own smartphones to see the 3D virtual reality program. To experience this program at home, visit www.ItCanWait.com/VR .
In addition to the new VR resources and tour, AT&T’s ad campaign will help broaden recognition that the smartphone distracted driving problem is bigger than texting. Through slow-motion cinematography, viewers are able to see the jarring aftermath of taking their eyes off the road to glance at or tap on a smartphone while driving.
The 30-second spots are featured in national TV programming and on ItCanWait.com. Visit AT&T’s YouTube page to view the 30-second spots and the full-length feature.
Pennsylvanians can visit www.ItCanWait.com, where they can pledge to keep their eyes on the road, not on their phone, and share their pledges via Twitter (#ItCanWait) and Facebook. Since its launch in 2010, the campaign has:
· Helped drive awareness of the dangers of texting while driving to about 90 percent for all audiences surveyed.
· Inspired more than 7 million pledges not to text and drive.
· Worked with departments of transportation in Texas, Kentucky and other states on research that suggests a correlation between It Can Wait campaign activities and a reduction in crashes.
Reference
Daniel Langan
717-215-5296
