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Luxemburg Casco High School Students Urged to Take Pledge to Keep Eyes on the Road and Not on Their Phones

Research Shows Smartphone Use Has Grown Beyond Texting;

AT&T, AAA, Wisconsin State Patrol Team Up to Highlight Dangers

LUXEMBURG, Thursday, October 29, 2015 – Nearly 650 students at Luxemburg Casco High School learned today about the dangers of smartphone activities while driving and were encouraged to take the pledge to keep their eyes on the road and not on their phones. Luxemburg Casco High School teamed up with AT&T, AAA and the Wisconsin State Patrol as part of the It Can Wait® campaign to remind students that smartphone activity should wait until after driving. “In today’s connected world, our teen drivers need to know that smartphone use behind the wheel is extremely dangerous and can be deadly,” said Principal Adam Kurth. “We hope our students take the It Can Wait message seriously and put their phones down while driving.” Today’s assembly was part of a series of high school events AT&T, AAA and the Wisconsin State Patrol are holding this school year to drive home the dangers of distracted driving and encourage students to take the pledge. The effort is part of AT&T’s It Can Wait® campaign, which has expanded this fall from a focus on texting while driving to include other smartphone activities now common behind the wheel. “When we launched the It Can Wait campaign five years ago, our message was simple – no text is worth a life,” said Scott T. VanderSanden, president of AT&T Wisconsin. “The same applies to other smartphone activities. We are urging drivers, especially teens, to keep their eyes on the road and not on their phones.” Today’s event featured AAA’s distracted driving simulator, which allowed students to experience the dangers of smartphone activities behind the wheel. Teens also watched a new AT&T video that shows how one young man’s dreams of playing college football ended instantly when another driver hit his vehicle after glancing at a phone.

Students were also encouraged to tag their top 5 contacts in a social media post asking them to take the pledge and pass it on, as part of AT&T’s new #Tag5toSave5 campaign. Research shows 2 in 3 people have most of their smartphone communications with just 5 people, and those “top 5” have a lot of influence over each other. The Governor has proclaimed October as “It Can Wait – Distracted Driving Awareness” Month throughout Wisconsin and is urging drivers to take the pledge. This December also marks the 5 year anniversary of Wisconsin’s ban on texting while driving. “Too many of today’s drivers are either texting or on their smartphone while driving,” said State Rep. Joel Kitchens (R-Sturgeon Bay). “Driving is not only a privilege, but an obligation to do so safely for the sake of everyone on our roads. There’s no reason it can’t wait if you’re behind the wheel.” New research from AT&T shows 7 in 10 people are engaging in smartphone activities while driving. Texting and emailing are still the most prevalent, but 4 in 10 drivers also tap into social media. Over 25 percent are on Facebook, 1 in 7 are on Twitter, almost 3 in 10 surf the net, and surprisingly, 1 in 10 video chat. “If you text while driving, your hands are not on the steering wheel, your eyes are not on the road, and your attention is not on the traffic and road conditions around you,” said State Patrol Superintendent Stephen Fitzgerald. “Texting while driving will, without a doubt, increase your risk of causing a crash or failing to avoid one. You are putting yourself, your passengers, and everyone else on the road in grave danger.” AT&T first launched the It Can Wait® campaign in 2010 to educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving and encourage people to take the pledge to not text and drive at www.ItCanWait.com. The campaign has now expanded and turned into a national social movement with support from organizations all over the country, including the Wisconsin State Patrol and AAA. Since 2010, AT&T, AAA and the State Patrol have partnered together to hold events in 78 cities throughout Wisconsin, reaching over 32,000 high school students. The It Can Wait campaign has inspired over 7.4 million pledges not to text and drive across the country. Visit www.ItCanWait.com to learn more. About AT&T AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) helps millions of people and businesses around the globe stay connected through leading wireless, high-speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. We’re helping people mobilize their worlds with state-of-the-art communications, entertainment services and amazing innovations like connected cars and devices for homes, offices and points in between. Our U.S. wireless network offers customers the nation’s strongest LTE signal and the nation’s most reliable 4G LTE network. We offer the best global wireless coverage. We’re improving how our customers stay entertained and informed with AT&T U-verse® TV and High Speed Internet services. And businesses worldwide are serving their customers better with AT&T’s mobility and highly secure cloud solutions. Additional information about AT&T products and services is available at http://about.att.com. Follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att.

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