Ironic: New Florida billboard campaign aims to curb distracted driving (w/VIDEO)
Click above to watch the video after the break
It seems to us that when we're glancing in the direction of a roadside billboard, we're not really keeping our eyes on the road. This undeniable fact hasn't stopped the installation of a new billboard in Fort Myers, Florida directing drivers to visit deathbycellphone.org. Good cause, poor implementation?
In a report that seems oblivious to the irony of an eye-catching billboard reminding drivers to pay attention to the road, the local NBC affiliate quotes Jay Anderson, founder of Stay Alive Just Drive, as saying, "Distractions are dangerous, period. At any given time, look left look right and you're going to see someone on their cell phone." Vinny Fazio of Lamar Advertising, which donated the billboard space, adds, "That's the good thing about outdoor advertising. We're looking to grab people's attention."
In related news, deathbybillboard.org has yet to be registered. Hit the jump to watch a video segment from WLBZ Channel 2 in Bangor, Maine along with a press release from the National Safety Council.
[Source: WLBZ2.com]
VIDEO:
PRESS RELEASE:
National Safety Council Launches "Death by Cell Phone" Billboards
Effort targets cell phone users on the road
Itasca, Ill. – "Death by Cell Phone" is the title of a new billboard advertisement the National Safety Council launched today in 67 markets nationwide, reaching more than 1 million people daily. Sponsored by Nationwide Insurance Co. and Lamar Advertising, the billboards feature Linda, a 61-year-old wife, mother and grandmother from Oklahoma, and Joe, a 12-year-old boy from Michigan, with one tragic thing in common: both were killed in car crashes caused by drivers using cell phones.
The title comes from the words of Linda's daughter, Jennifer Smith, describing the young man who hit her mother: "He ran a red light and T-boned her car at 45 to 50 miles per hour, which was the posted speed limit. My mother died within a couple of hours from blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest. I just call it death by cell phone."
The billboard features photos of Linda and Joe, along with the address of a Web site where viewers can watch a short video [deathbycellphone.org] that tells their stories. Appearing in the video are Smith and Joe's father, David Teater.
Smith and Teater make impassioned pleas for Americans to hang up their cell phones and stop text messaging while driving. Both believe the drivers of the cars that killed their loved ones were unaware of the cognitive distraction caused by talking on a cell phone or texting while driving. According to one estimate, cell phone use is a factor in 6 percent of all crashes, which equates to 636,000 crashes, 330,000 injuries, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year. Studies also show that cell phone-using drivers are four times more likely to be involved in personal injury crashes than other drivers, and that most crashes are caused by driver inattention, with cell phone use being the number-one distraction.
According to a recent (2008) poll by Nationwide Insurance, roughly eight in ten (81%) cell phone owners report that they talk on their cell phone while driving. Comparatively, about one in five (18%) cell phone owners report that they send text messages while driving.
Smith and Teater anticipate a change of culture in the United States to recognize cell phone use while driving as particularly hazardous. The change will entail time, public education, state level legislation and law enforcement, and technology solutions offered by wireless operators and auto manufacturers.
"I can close my eyes and envision, maybe it is five years from now, maybe it is 10 years, when we can all look back and say 'hey, remember when we all used to talk on cell phones when we drove? What idiots we were to do that,'" Teater said.
Since his son's death, David Teater has sought to educate the public about the dangers of cell phone use while driving. In April he joined the NSC, accepting the newly created position of Senior Director, Transportation Strategic Initiatives, focusing his efforts on reducing distracted driving and teen driving fatalities.
In January, the NSC became the first organization to call for a nationwide ban on all forms of cell phone use while driving. It is estimated more than 100 million people engage in this activity daily. A fact sheet, data resources and other information concerning cell phone use while driving are available on the NSC Web site at distracteddriving.nsc.org.
The National Safety Council (www.nsc.org) saves lives by preventing injuries and deaths at work, in homes and communities, and on the roads, through leadership, research, education and advocacy.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Nude Love 9:53AM (7/11/2009)
The billboard doesn't say anything about driving...
If anything, Frequent cellphone users will be distracted trying to see the add, wondering why they are going to die.
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BrianFL 12:16PM (7/11/2009)
Your right. I live in the area and when I drove past this it distracted me. ha
jcar302 9:56AM (7/11/2009)
Hand held cell phone use while driving is at an epidemic level here in NJ. What's even worse is that we have a law to prevent it.
I don't really understand why people don't use their earpieces or headsets. Pretty much every phone on the market comes with one when you buy it.
I'm so used to using a headset, it's like a seat belt to me. I won't drive without a seat belt because i'm uncomfortable, and i won't talk without a handsfree for the same reason. That, and my arm gets tired quickly from holding the phone.
Here's the solutions, A. Up the fines for each time someone gets caught.
$100, then $250, then $500. Maybe even add court appearance required, which is something that happens when you park in a handicap spot. The $125 fine is one thing, a day in court makes it ten times worse.
B. Put the police on an all out assault on it. Half the damn cars by me are
unmarked, so it won't take much to cruise down the highway and catch people. Spend a couple months writing ticket after ticket, and the word will get around.
If towns are as broke as they claim to be, this would be great revenue, and the people won't complain or fight the tickets, because they carry no points.
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Kitko 10:07AM (7/11/2009)
Well said.
Even with an earpiece, when someone calls, the first thing I tell them is "I'm driving" and they usually get the message, keep talking to a minimum and ask when it would be the best to reach me.
And even with that policy, I managed to do a stupid thing. It was supposed to be perfectly safe. The only thing I did was calling a person I had on speed dial. Literally a split of second lost - that would meant I wouldn't have hit that Seat Leon in front of me. Fortunatelly, damage was restricted to the Seat's rear bumper.
Tom Miller 10:43AM (7/11/2009)
Who cares whether its hand held or not? It's the mental distraction that's causing the risk. There ought to be some way to determine who was on a cell phone when an accident is being investigated. That person should be treated as though they were DUI.
Ever notice how that car in front of you is several seconds slow to go when the light turns green? Ever notice how that car in front is meandering in its lane or is gradually slowing for no apparent reason? They were talking on a cell phone.
Stay off the road between 9PM and 5AM and you can avoid most drunk drivers. Cell phone drivers are a constant threat.
jcar302 11:13AM (7/11/2009)
Tom, i know what you mean, but you aren't going to eliminate cell phone use while driving.
Ear pieces and headsets are by far the lesser of 2 evils in this situation.
When you have the phone up to your ear all kinds of worse things could happen.
For starters you only have one available hand for the steering wheel.
Then even worse you can't swivel your head to look in all directions, whether it be to cross a stop street or to change lanes, it's damn near impossible with a handheld.
So ya, some people are mentally distracted while on the phone, but it's way worse when you compound it with the two things i mentioned above.
So i feel that using an earpiece is acceptable.
Derek 11:26AM (7/11/2009)
I stopped using my Bluetooth in the car because I realized I was falling into the same trap and thinking that just because it was hands-free that it wasn't a distraction. WRONG. The only time I will take a cell phone in the car anymore is if I am on the highway and can safely set the cruise control in the right hand lane, otherwise I have voicemail.
jv2k 12:40PM (7/11/2009)
Who cares whether its hand held or not? It's the mental distraction that's causing the risk.
Do you plan on banning talking to the guy next to you as well?
AMcA 12:45PM (7/11/2009)
As a staunch conservative, I'm generally against regulation. But as an urban pedestrian who has nearly been hit by many cell phone users, I favor a regulation that requires some kind of a cell phone blocker that prevents use of a cell phone from the driver's seat as long as a car's in Drive.
paul34 3:15PM (7/11/2009)
Wait, back up. The distraction is not from holding a random object in your hand. Come on, now.
The distraction is from the conversation. Holding a phone is no more distracting than holding any other thing in your hand while driving. The distraction comes from talking to someone who doesn't know when to stop talking or to pause talking like a regular car passenger would.
Handsfree gives you a free hand, sure, but it doesn't remove the basic problem which is the extended conversation itself.
Just hang up and drive. It's the only way. Education and social pressure will be more effective than wasting officer's time with such nagging legislation.
scott 3 10:11AM (7/11/2009)
Being a victim of a cell phone driver twice I can understand the issue.
The first time a guy in pick up backed out into me never looking becasue he was on the phone. I had no place I could go and just hat to take the hit. At least he was embaressed.
The second time I was traviling at 55 MPH (the speed limit) and had an idiot turn in front of me and stop blocking my lane. I could have hit him dead in the side and killed him or tried to make the corner. I slid in some gravel and went off the road and un a embankment smashing my intercooler and front bumper in my 3 day old car.
The guy wanted to blaime me till the state trooper wrote him up after he had to stay on the scean since I had several people said he was driving erratic and also made it know we had his plate number.
Thank God for Stabilityy control and the sklls I had as I ended up in the best place to make it out with nothing but air bag injuries. There was a large drop off on one side and a pole and two signs I weaved in between.
I hope the socked his insurance good. His agent was not happy with him since he reported nothing to them. The sad part is he has no idea that if I had hit him in the side where he was sitting I do not think he would have made it. He was that close to death. I would have been hurt but the impact for me would have been in the best place for me to have had a good chance of still getting out in one piece.
In this day and age fewer people can drive let alone multi task. It is sad we have a lot of idiots that can drive and change the radio let talk on a phone at the same time.
But how do you stop it. Passing a law on texting while driving is nice but just try to enforce it.
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MazdaMatt 10:18AM (7/11/2009)
Cell phone drivers are a menace.
But, a 3 day old car with a turbo? I have a hard time believing you were not speeding. :)
scott 3 11:25AM (7/11/2009)
Matt
I was coming home from work and not running the 12 hours of Sebring.
I also had less than 300 miles on a new car that I did not run hard till 1000 miles.
There is a time a place to run hard and a 2 lane highway at rush hour is not one. You might get an idiot with a cell phone turning in front of you.
Besides this is not my first or fastest car so I act like it.
Todd 10:31AM (7/11/2009)
Here in Texas the state legislature was an hour a way from passing the law to absolutely ban cell phone use while driving - no exceptions, no loopholes - and guess what happen...
An AT&T executive, wearing an AT&T lapel pin no less, quietly went to several of the senators, on the floor of the senate (!!!) whisper something in their ear...
...next thing you know, bill failed to pass because it didn't have enough votes.
Lesson - campaign finance reform and paid lobbyists influence peddling must be outlawed FIRST, then safety measures for the road can be made into law.
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Ryan M 11:16AM (7/11/2009)
That's funny, you'd think AT&T would be open to a bill that would help increase sales of overpriced accessories. "And will you be needing a Bluetoof headset with that new Phone today? You know it's against the law to talk on your phone in the car without a Handsfree device. We have this Jawbone model for only $199.99..."
Cartrash 2:47PM (7/11/2009)
Sad but true.
The U.S.Bill of Rights reads: "the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances."
In reality its should read: "the right of CORPORTATIONS to CORNER, and to BRIBE the government REGARDLESS OF THE PEOPLE.
jrhmobile 11:32AM (7/11/2009)
Great campaign, but I'll probably forget that web address by the time I can get home.
Do you think I can watch it on my smartphone?
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Chibi Chaingun - blackhivemedia.com 11:37AM (7/11/2009)
That billboard isn't any more distracting than any other billboard. Sure it's ironic, but as long as billboards are legal then you might as well use them to inform people otherwise someone else will just take the space, maybe a strip club sign instead. It's still a better cause.
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Tom Miller 11:49AM (7/11/2009)
You can ignore the sign, read it or simply observe it, so it can be a distraction. However, you don't HAVE to concentrate on it or spend time thinking of a response like you would if in a phone conversation.
There are distractions and there are distractions. Being in the midst of a phone conversation can be extremely distracting. Drivers may be looking all around while they are on the phone, but the sights may not be registering. How about the guy on the motorcycle mostly hidden by the car in the next lane?
chicagovet 11:39AM (7/11/2009)
It takes about five seconds to read that billboard--the distraction is nothing even close to what's required to talking and listening on a cell phone--both mentally and physically.
That said: billboards, particularly the gigantic ones alongside Interstates, are blights on the landscape. Nothing good about them.
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