Overview



Overview

Problem

Text messaging while driving is becoming just as common, if not more common, than drinking and driving. Almost every driver owns a cell phone, and the majority of them use text messaging. This distraction is just as bad as the disorientation that alcohol causes for drivers. They both severely affect how much attention a driver pays to the road.

The Solution: How MADD Can Help

The most obvious solution to this problem is informing the public of this dangerous habit. You are an existing organization that has an exceptional reputation for making America's roads safer. Your organization has the tools and resources available to raise awareness of the dangers of text messaging while driving. Adding the issue of text messaging while driving to your existing causes would save a countless amount of lives. If your organization adds this issue to their campaign, you would expand your focus from only drinking and drunk driving to including other dangerous activities on the road. Getting the information out about the dangers of text messaging while driving would save many lives. This proposal describes the problem and solution of this issue in greater detail.

In addition, we have included a sample brochure and flyer. If you choose to become involved with this issue, the brochure and flyer could be used to raise awareness of the dangers associated with text messaging while driving.

Problem

Text messaging is rapidly becoming a major method of communication in our society. Rather than use valuable minutes on a calling plan, people send short messages on their cellular phone to communicate with others. This relatively new type of communication, combined with today’s hectic “on-the-go” schedules, gives way to a dangerous habit: text messaging while driving.

Any time a person is distracted behind the wheel of a car is a dangerous situation. The government estimates that 30 percent of all crashes in the United States involve driver distraction.[1] Text messaging takes not only people’s attention off the road, but also their eyes. A quick glance at a cell phone can have dangerous results. Vehicles traveling at highway speeds, or any speed for that matter, move a great distance in just the blink of an eye. Therefore, situations can change drastically as drivers take their eyes off the road for just a moment. They can unknowingly drift out of their lane, a car in front of them can suddenly stop or slow down, or any number of unforeseen situations can arise. Therefore, drivers must always stay alert while on the road. An alarming number of people ignore this fact. A study done by Nationwide Mutual Insurance revealed that 19% of all drivers, and 37% of drivers between the ages of 18 and 27, choose to text message while they are driving.[2] Today, there are an estimated 240 million motorists in America.[3] Using this number, there are more than 45 million drivers on the road who admit to text messaging when they are behind the wheel. This is an astounding number of distracted drivers who are not paying attention to the road.

Cell phone use has been rapidly increasing over the past decade, and the trend is expected to continue. In 2006, approximately 70% of the US population owned a cell phone, which equals over 220 million cell phone subscribers. By 2015, this number is expected to reach 300 million.

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Not only will cell phone use in general continue to increase, so will the use of text messaging. Text messaging is already the most widely used feature on a cell phone, ranking well above a calculator, camera, or address book.

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The percentage of people who reported that they text message every single day jumped by ten percent from 2006 to 2007. The percentage of cell phone users who never use their cell phone to text message has been steadily decreasing over the past few years.

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This increase in both the number of cell phone subscribers and the percentage of people who text message daily will result in massive growth for this method of communication in the coming years. This expected growth in the use of text messaging warrants the need for an awareness program to be implemented immediately. The issue of text messaging while driving needs to be addressed before there is a resulting growth in accidents caused by drivers who are text messaging behind the wheel. Prevention is the cure for this problem, not trying to address the problem after thousands of lives have been lost. Therefore, it is important to address the issue right now and teach people to text message safely.

Solution

Your organization is large organization that has been extremely successful in removing many drunk drivers off the road. Since 1980, you have helped in reducing alcohol-related traffic fatalities by 44 percent and have saved over 300,000 lives.[7] In the past seven years, your organization has raised an average of 45,029 dollars per year. An average of 9,277 dollars came from government grants. In the chart below, the total amount of revenue per year is shown, along with the amount of government grants, based on the annual reports available on your website.[8]

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The government praises your organization because it has made the public roads safer by reducing the number of individuals who choose to drink and drive. However, the roads are still not safe. The issue with text messaging while driving is becoming a looming issue. If the goal of your organization is to make public roads as safe as possible, then you can explore the possibilities of raising awareness with text messages while driving.

            Since your organization has had a major impact on the citizens across the nation, you can persuade the government into giving a larger grant which can be used to raise the awareness of text messaging while driving.  An extremely large grant would not even be required to become involved with this issue. You can add on to your organization’s lectures by adding the dangers of text messaging while driving.

The other way you can become involved in this issue is to create another branch of MADD. The new branch can strictly focus on raising awareness of text messaging while driving. They could find ways to reduce the number of accidents related to text messaging. If your organization is successful in lobbying for government grants to save lives, why not lobby for more government grants to save more lives by encouraging citizens not to text message while driving?

Another low cost method is to add to the goals of UMADD. The primary audience of UMADD is teenagers and young adults, an age group which is responsible for a large number of drunk driving accidents. The primary goal is to reduce underage drinking, high-risk drinking, and drinking abuse on college campuses. UMADD’s presence on college campuses will be extremely useful if they also spread the word about text messaging while driving. The government has estimated that about 30% of all car accidents are related to distractions behind the wheel.[9] Another study found that 37% of drivers between ages of 18 and 27 choose to text message while they drive.[10] The majority of that age group is also part of the college age group. Therefore, using UMADD could be very effective because it would not only raise awareness of drinking and driving, but also text messaging while driving. It could be a low cost addition to their existing goals.

Your organization is extremely successful. However, you could be more successful if you also focus on text messaging while driving. The number of lives saved could be extremely significant if you not only reduce drunk driving, but also reduce incidences of text messaging while driving. The whole purpose is to make America’s roads safer. Fewer car accidents and deaths could be a result if you become involved with the issue of text messaging while driving.

Flyer

On the following page is a sample flyer you can mail or hand out to advertise this new campaign. This flyer sends the message that text messaging while driving is very dangerous and is nothing to laugh about. Included in the flyer is the catch phrase, "Texting while driving is nothing to LOL about." Using “LOL” will appeal to teenagers and catch their attention, as they are more likely to use this phrase meaning “laugh out loud” in their text messages. This catch phrase relates to younger drivers, who are more likely to text message while driving. Once you get the message out to younger drivers, the rate of death and injury relating to text messaging while driving will decrease.

This flyer can easily be copied and distributed. We have created this flyer to help you in advertising the dangers of text messaging while driving. We hope this flyer will make raising awareness about this issue easier.

Brochure

We have enclosed a brochure that could aid your campaign in raising awareness of text messaging while driving. The brochure discusses how text messaging is an ongoing problem and explains the dangers of text messaging while driving. This brochure is not only designed to convince your organization to raise awareness of text messaging while driving, but also to convince your audience that text messaging while driving is dangerous. If you choose become involved with this issue, you could use this actual brochure throughout your campaign. As with the flyer, the brochure can easily be distributed to your audience. The brochure offers more detailed information for those wishing to learn more about text messaging while driving and how they could actually get in contact with your organization for more information.

Conclusion

Text messaging while driving is becoming a very dangerous activity across America. More than 45 million drivers on the road admit to text messaging while they are behind the wheel.[11] With text messaging becoming more common, many more traffic-related injuries are occurring.

You are an existing organization that has an exceptional reputation for making America's roads safer. The most feasible solution to this problem is using your organization to make people aware of the dangers associated with text messaging while driving. Your organization has the tools and resources available to raise awareness of the dangers of text messaging while driving. Getting people to understand how dangerous it is to text message while driving would save many lives.

Almost everybody knows at least one person who has sent a text message while driving. This person can be a family member or just an acquaintance. In either case, this person could unexpectedly die or become seriously injured because of their ignorance. Many Americans do not realize just how dangerous and how serious this problem is becoming. Your organization can have a very positive effect on this issue by using its influence, reputation, and resources to make the public aware of the dangers associated with text messaging while driving.

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[1] Anonymous, “Driving While Texting: A Clear Danger”, CBS News, internet page posted 10/22/2006 ()

[2] Cooper, Christopher, “Should Driving While Texting be a Crime?” MSN News, internet page accessed 11/19/2007 ()

[3] Jones, Charisse, “Getting a Driver’s License to Get Harder”, USA Today, internet page posted 3/14/2006 ()

[4] Anonymous, “Cell Phone Pervasiveness Will Influence Behavior”, Bridge Ratings, internet page posted 5/9/2007,



[5] Jacobs, Fred, “The Mighty Mighty Cellphone”, Jacobs Media, internet page posted 4/26/2007,

[6] Jacobs, Fred, “The Mighty Mighty Cellphone”, Jacobs Media, internet page posted 4/26/2007,

[7] Statistics available from MADD’s website at (accessed 11/19/2007)

[8] 2000-2005 Annual Reports available on MADD’s website at (accessed 11/19/2007)

[9] Anonymous, “Driving While Texting: A Clear Danger”, CBS News, internet page posted 10/22/2006 ()

[10] Cooper, Christopher, “Should Driving While Texting be a Crime?” MSN News, internet page accessed 11/19/2007 ()

[11] Cooper, Christopher, “Should Driving While Texting be a Crime?” MSN News, internet page accessed 11/19/2007 ()

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