Text Kills called in to KUSI San Diego (CNN affiliate)

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16 YEAR OLD DIES DURING FIRST SOLO DRIVE :-(

texting teen on first solo drive

SDGE 2013 Safety Standown “Spotlight on Safety”

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More than 100 North San Diego County SDG&E Employees welcome the Text Kills® crew for presentation and signing the bus.  All employees took the group pledge to refrain from texting while driving (TWD).

-Swerve

All Four Major Cellphone Carriers Agree: Text Kills®

In the news today is an announcement by the four major cellphone carriers that they will be launching the first joint advertising campaign against texting while driving (TWD). Verizon Wireless, Sprint, and T-Mobile will be joining AT&T on its “It Can Wait” slogan campaign to alert users to the dangers of texting while driving via television and radio this summer. 200 other organizations will also be joining them on the multi-million dollar ad campaign.

It is interesting and commendable that these four rivals are setting aside their business differences to stand united against what is a growing problem. While all of these companies initially fought against laws that sought to limit the use of cellphones while driving, they are now siding with the federal government in their campaign to limit the practice. Some of the carriers have done more than others to address the problem in the past: AT&T and Verizon have run ads against TWD since 2009, and Sprint created an education program targeting teens learning to drive in 2005.

It is great to see these companies joining the fight to make the roads safer and save lives. Text Kills has been on board with the federal government’s efforts to stop the practice for some time now; we were personally invited by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood to attend the 2010 national Distracted Driving Summit in Washington, D.C. in 2010, and recently our founder, Wayne Irving II, visited the capital again to speak at the FCC Distracted Driving Technology Showcase. It seems as if the cellphone carriers are figuring out what our founder did years ago: While technology can become the problem, it can also become the solution.

We applaud these companies for their efforts and are glad to have them joining us in the fight against TWD.

Text Kills Blog Post Pic 5-15-2013

An Open Letter To Governor Rick Scott From Text Kills® Founder Wayne Irving II

Text Kills Blog Post 5-14-2013 FINAL-pdf

 

Tampa Bay’s FOX 13 Reports Leading Teen Killer: TEXTING & DRIVING

 

Source: Fox 13 – Tampa Bay, FL

By: April Kellogg, FOX 13 News

fox13 texting while driving

Texting While Driving: Soon To Be Illegal In Florida?

imagesOn Thursday, the Florida Senate sent Governor Rick Scott SB 52, a bill that would make it illegal to read or type texts or emails while driving. The bill is the result of a years-long effort by legislators in the state to outlaw the practice of Texting While Driving (TWD), although it is still unclear whether Governor Scott will sign the bill or not.

Send Governor Scott a letter RIGHT NOW! CLICK HERE

Florida is actually late to the game in its attempts to ban TWD; 39 states have already made the practice illegal, with all but three allowing primary enforcement for the infraction. For those who are unfamiliar, primary enforcement means that a police officer can pull you over if they see you texting while driving. For states without primary enforcement, an officer can not stop you for the practice alone, but can cite you for it after you are stopped for another offense, such as speeding or running a red light.

Under the proposed Florida law, officers would not be able to exercise primary enforcement for TWD. Additionally, in most cases police and prosecutors won’t be able to seek the driver’s cell phone records to prove that they were texting while driving, although an amendment added this week by the Florida House of Representatives would allow them to if there were an injury or death in a crash. Read more…

It’s Mother’s Day!

text kills, #textkills, texting while drivingDear Mothers,

It seems only appropriate on this Mother’s Day 2013 to let all of you know how much we appreciate all that you do to care for and protect your children.  And when we think about protecting our teens and children, we know you share our concern for keeping the lines of communication open (and safe) as it relates to text messaging behind the wheel.

In some states, like Iowa for example, younger teens can drive to school at 14 years old all by themselves and many indeed do!  Sometimes, it seems like all our children, including my 4 children, are texting all day long, all the time.  Mothers, today is truly your day, and we want to wish you a happy Mother’s Day by thanking you for being vigilant about ensuring that your teens are driving responsibly, while at the same time helping instill self-reliance and responsibility in them by doing what you can to make it ‘your’ teen’s idea’ for them to be careful about avoiding texting while driving (TWD).  Haha!  I have learned – perhaps the hard way – that the best way to get my teens to do what I feel is best for them, and with the least amount of friction, is to make them feel that doing the right thing, the prudent thing, the thing I want them to do … is in fact “their own idea”.

For the Mothers out there actively working  for better driving safety in your own communities and in the names of the children that you have lost, our hats go off to you for your works!  We want to know who all of you are, so please reach out to us.  And if you are having an event in your local community, let us know, and maybe, just maybe, we can make it there to help your cause and promote your all important message.

So many children die every year, from disease, famine, murder, suicide, terrorism, the common cold, pneumonia, freak infections, accidents, and from other causes that often appear to be inexplicable and beyond our control.  But when a child or teen dies in a car accident due to someone’s distracted driving or TWD, you, the Mothers of these lost children, know better than anyone that your terrible loss was avoidable.  The scope of this distracted driving problem among teens is borne out by the following statistics, as reported by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration  (NHTSA).  In 2009 (i) 12% of the people who died in distracted driving crashes in 2009 were teens 15 to 19 years old,  (ii) 64% of the people killed during a teen (15 to 19 years old) distracted driving crash were in fact  teens age 15 to 19 years old, and (iii) nearly 600 teen (15 to 19 years old) drivers involved in fatal crashes were distracted.  See NHTSA Teen Distracted Driver Data, October 16-22, 2011.  Whether resulting from driver negligence or recklessness, the fact remains that it was a tragedy that could have been prevented, and we know your associated grief and sorry will never completely heal.  Indeed, we carry your losses with us as an inspiring reminder as we traverse the country with our Text Kills™ tour bus.  Over the past 2 ½ years or so, we have taken our message of safe driving on the road to more than 500 events, having collected more than 100,000 pledges on the sides of our old beat up bus, and with every 20 or so pledges, it seems like we invariably meet someone who has been directly affected by the calamity that is distracted driving or TWD. 

Please accept our undying love and appreciation for all you do, and our deepest sympathies for your losses of loved ones.  Even 1 loss of life due to distracted driving or TWD is just too much.  Please help us to help you spread your messages and your story! 

As defined in Wikipedia, “Mother’s Day is a celebration honoring mothers and motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on various days in many parts of the world, most commonly in March or May. It complements Father’s Day, a similar celebration honoring fathers.”

God Bless all mothers today!

-Wayne

Text Kills® Co-Founder

Aliso Niguel High School Football Car Wash Fundraiser

 

Come on down to All Hands Car Wash in Aliso Viejo, CA and support not texting while driving and the Aliso Niguel High School football program. 8am-6pm

Come sign the bus!  Take the pledge.

tk-carwash

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TODAY – SATURDAY MAY 11

Soka International Festival 2013

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Kassie, Amy, Sasha, Solana, Katie (V and T Dance, Laguna Hills, Ca)  more to come…

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