Carrollwood Day School Students Get Lesson on Texting While Driving

When it comes to driving home the lesson about texting and driving, the younger the better.

That's the philosophy behind AT&T's Wheel and Pedal simulator.

As part of AT&T’s aggressive Txtng & Drivng…It Can Wait public awareness campaign, the communications company took its simulator to Carrollwood Day School, 1515 W. Bearrs Ave., Tampa, last week to give Barbie Monty's fifth-grade class a chance to try it out.

According to Michele Money-Carson, senior public relations consultant for West Florida AT&T Corporate Communications, the goal of the “It Can Wait” movement is to save lives and make texting and driving as unacceptable as drinking and driving.

"That is the simple-yet-vital message AT&T is sending drivers, particularly teens," she said. "It’s never too early to drive this message home."

The statistics tell the story.

AT&T conducted a national online survey among 1,200 teenagers age 15 to 19 years old on their driving and texting habits.

• Texting drivers are 23 times more likely to be in an accident.
• On average, teens send five times as many text messages a day as a typical adult.
• 75 percent of teens surveyed said texting while driving is “common” among their friends.
  
• 77 percent of teens have seen their parents text and drive.