As a parents we want to be extra safe driving our priceless passengers around town. I think about that every time I get in a car with kids. But recently as I got more involved with the It Can Wait campaign with AT&T, I decided that my greatest challenge may just be OTHER drivers.
I realized that distracted drivers are all around me each day. Every time I see a driver that is not driving safely, it seems that they are looking down at a phone. Even if they are just “peeking” at a text on their phone, it is still dangerous. A recent AT&T Commuter Poll found that “Nearly half of commuters self-reported texting while driving in a recent poll1, and 43% of those who did called it a “habit.”Commuters are texting and driving even more than teens – 49%1, compared to 43%2. And the problem has gotten worse. Six in 10 commuters say they never texted while driving three years ago.”
Along with spreading the word that “It Can Wait”, I searched for ways to get my kids to join in the efforts as further inspiration. So here are my tips to hopefully *inspire* parents (and everyone) to focus on the road while driving:
1.DECIDE ON YOUR RULES & GET YOUR KIDS INVOLVED AS INSPIRATION: On my last post I discussed how to teach kids (teens) not to text and drive. But parents are also very distracted. So I decided to download the AT&T It Can Wait activation kit to read the tips and get my kids involved as inspiration. First I showed them the Activation tips (rules) which included assigning a designated “non driving” person to text in the car, creating in advance a song playlist (to listen to in the car) and more. When I am driving I tell my teen son he is in charge of my phone. Because my kids know the rules, they can also help enforce them as well.
My next step was to print out the stencils and have my sons color them to be displayed in my car as a daily reminder. While two of my sons did a nice job of coloring, one went above and beyond by adding his own thoughts to the No Text On Board graphics “I’m Watching You!”
2. DETERMINE DIRECTIONS AND ORGANIZE – BEFORE YOU GET INTO CAR: I make a plan to prepare BEFORE getting in my car by collecting directions or other important information. If I use my phone (voice) navigation system, I even type in all the information and get the navigation set before I start the car. If I am going to use any Bluetooth devices for hands free – I make sure I have that in place before I start driving as well.
3. USE MOBILE APPS: The It Can Wait Campaign lists three mobile apps to help stay focused on driving with features such as auto reply to texts and sending calls to voicemail : AT&T Drive Mode, Verizon Safely Go and Safely Go For Sprint.
Do you have any tips on how your prevent texting while driving? Please do share!
Disclosure: This is a sponsored post for a campaign with AT&T. My opinions are my own.
