The NO PHONE ZONE pledge is pretty much an online petition that you can sign and say you will not text or talk while driving.
As I commented on AskDutch's page, while this is a good idea, and texting/talking while driving is dangerous, if fines from traffic police aren't enough to make a person not text/talk while driving, I don't see how an online pledge will.
Then I came across a texting-while-driving ad that is coming to the U.S. It originated in the U.K. and is being cut down from a full PSA to a 30 second spot for U.S. audiences, probably because we have shorter attention spans. The video is below, WARNING: IT IS GRAPHIC. I think it's effective in stopping texting/talking while driving, but it is really graphic, and I could see it stopping people from wanting to drive at all.
While Oprah's approach to the problem may be too soft, this might be a bit too harsh of a campaign, or maybe it is just right. Thoughts?
i actually know people that got fined here. state's broke and the road patrol need to still meet commission, i suppose.
ReplyDeleteDidn't watch the video, but a friend of mine teaches high school and they had a graphic demonstration of the consequences of texting while driving at an assembly. She won't text again (yeah, the law didn't stop her, but that did). I gave up the habit just before the law took affect here last year (or was it the year before?).
ReplyDeleteI've seen that video. Unfortunately, I'm a bit of a pessimist. I don't think that video will be any more effective than when doctor Oz shows images of clogged arteries on Oprah or puts people on the "truth tube" on his show. Texting is just one of a host of inappropriate things people do while driving. While I was in DC I never really saw a lot of people multi-tasking while driving, but since I've moved to California, I've met folks who eat while driving (and steering with their knee - WTF) or doing makeup while driving, but then again people used to whip out gigantic maps while driving back in the day... That's why EVERYONE on the road (drivers and pedestrians alike) need to be EXTREMELY careful AT ALL TIMES!
ReplyDelete