Texting While Driving is Serious Business
Last month Volkswagen ran a shocking Public Service Announcement in a cinema in Hong Kong.
It went like this: Cinema goers watched a first person view of someone driving a car down a long road. Not too long after the “drive” started, people in the theater received a text message. When those with mobiles looked down to see the message, the car in the movie crashed into a tree.
After a moment to let the situation sink in, the screen went to a message saying “Mobile use is now the leading cause of death behind the wheel. A reminder to keep your eyes on the road.”
While PSAs educating people about the risks of mobile use and driving are common, Volkswagen appears to be the first to actually incorporate live texting (reportedly using location based services at the cinema). If you watch the video, you’ll see the people genuinely seem to be shocked, arguably more so than if they simply watched a movie of someone crash while reading a text message.
Despite efforts to raise awareness and the penalties associated with distracted driving, many continue to use their mobiles in the car. A recent study by RAC Foundation showed a high percentage of people in the UK are not aware of the laws surrounding distracted driving and mobile use in particular.
For instance, 61% of people claimed they were unaware that texting in a stationary car while the engine is running is illegal (like waiting in traffic). The study also found one in eight believe that texting while driving is legal. It makes me wonder if these people are blissfully ignorant or just pretending to be so. Here in the UK there are very specific laws regarding distracted driving that anyone who gets behind the wheel should know. For a quick overview and to test your knowledge of the law, visit gov.uk.
As a text message service provider we encourage everyone to follow the law and stay safe. No text is worth risking anyone’s life.
Related Articles
The Super Amazing Speed of SMS Marketing
One of the greatest advantages of SMS marketing is how fast it is. You might be thinking I'm talking about the almost instantaneous delivery rates, or how quick it is to write a message and send it to your entire list - but this time we're talking about how fast you can get results.
A Demonstration on How Not to Build Your SMS List
Over the last month or so I've signed up for quite a lot of webinars. I'm always trying to learn more about technology, marketing, best practices – you get the idea. So I've been excited to see many organisations offering SMS reminders for webinars. But there is one experience I had with an SMS reminder for a webinar that I simply had to share.
12 Reasons Mobile Messaging is “A Beautiful Thing”
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. But could text messaging really be considered beautiful? You might argue that it depends on the messages you get! That’s a valid approach, but I recently found a description of mobile messaging that made me believe it is indeed beautiful, so I thought I’d share it with you.
5 Fantastic Spring SMS Marketing Phrases
Always Follow Through on Your SMS Marketing Promises
The other day I received a text message promising me ten days of deals. All I had to do was reply “DEALS” to the shortcode each day and they would send me a coupon for their service. This was great I thought, because my kids had been asking about the company for a while. A deal was just what I needed to get me to let my kids have their way...
SMS Marketing – 4 of the UK’s Best Ever Campaigns
Discover how to come up with an SMS marketing campaign in this article which looks under the surface of some of the UK's most successful ever SMS marketing campaigns. Whether you are looking to boost revenue, improve customer satisfaction or help your brand stand out with a unique and memorable promotion, this article shows how a simple approach to SMS messaging can work wonders for your company.
Build Brand Loyalty with SMS Messaging
In a world where your competition can be found in just a few seconds, instilling brand loyalty in customers is a greater challenge than ever. One way to proactively reach out to customers is via SMS. The personal nature of SMS messages, combined with high read rates, gives you the opportunity to develop relationships with each customer.
SMS Marketing for Jewellers and Jewellery Makers
What Your Customers Want From SMS Marketing
Mobile marketing offers an unprecedented access to your customers virtually any time, anywhere. This is particularly true for SMS marketing because it is “always on”. Customers don’t have to be surfing the web, or using an app to receive messages. Instead, they see the marketing messages right alongside ones from their friends and family.