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.