UPPER DARBY, Pa. 5/3/2010 2:22:00 AM
Student Car Crash Victims Distracted by Texting
AT&T sponsors high school campaign to end texting while driving
Upper Darby High School joined AT&T this week in launching a driver safety campaign that shows unfinished text messages left behind by student crash victims.
The campaign is built around 4 print and video ads that show in large letters actual text messages that led to catastrophic accidents.
Nineteen-year-old Ashley Umscheid was reading the one-word text message, "yeah," when she flipped her car and died on impact.
Wil Craig now suffers from traumatic brain damage from a car accident caused by the text message, "where r."
Eighteen-year-old Mariah West was reading the text message, "where u at," as she drove her car into oncoming traffic.
Marine Lance Corporal JB Breen was typing the unfinished text message, "yeah t," when he drove his car off the road and died of a massive skull fracture.
The Upper Darby Post-Prom Committee shared the messages with students and urged them to sign a commitment pledging to not text while driving.
AT&T will donate $1 for every pledge received and the funds collected will go directly to the school's post-prom activities.
"Trying to do many things at once has become so common," said Dana Spino of Upper Darby School District. "It only takes a few seconds to be distracted, but those few seconds can change a life forever."
AT&T is going national with the "Texting Can Wait" media campaign, which can also be downloaded at www.att.com/txtngcanwait.
For more prevention and awareness resources for students, visit School Safety Partners at www.SchoolSafetyPartners.org.
