Awareness

PUBLIC AWARENESS CAMPAIGNS

Since 2009, the U.S. Department of Transportation has launched a variety of creative campaigns to raise awareness about the dangers of distracted driving. With the help of our numerous safety partners, we have reached out to millions of Americans with the important message that "One Text or Call Could Wreck It All."

• New Ad Council 'Texting and Driving. Makes Good People Look Bad.' TV and radio PSAs support the "Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks" texting and driving campaign by reminding motorists that it doesn’t matter if you're a decent person who does good things. The simple act of texting and driving makes you selfish and hypocritical.
• In support of the "Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks." texting and driving campaign, the Ad Council and NHTSA partnered with YouTube creator and actress Meg DeAngelis, who created a “10 Everyday Things You’re Doing Wrong” YouTube video that shows her four million fans and subscribers that no matter how “safely” they think they can drive while doing other things, distracted driving is always dangerous.
  
  For the fifth year, NHTSA, Mazda Motorsports, National Organizations for Youth Safety (NOYS), and the Ad Council have joined together to support the annual Project Yellow Light college scholarship competition that calls on students to create short videos educating their peers on the dangers of using mobile devices while driving. Clear Channel Outdoor has added their support by sponsoring an outdoor PSA competition this year, and will donate media support across their national digital billboard network for the winning PSAs. They will also display the winning submissions Project Yellow Light TV and outdoor on their billboards in Times Square.
• Nearly 4,000 VW and Audi employees pledge to never text and drive as part of the “Enjoy the Ride, Don’t Text and Drive” campaign.
• Lightning McQueen and Mater remind drivers that “only bad guys drive distracted” in new Cars 2 PSA.
• New Better Business Bureau toolkit, featuring the “Faces of Distracted Driving” series, encourages employers to adopt distracted driving policies.
• New Consumer Reports brochure helps parents and educators talk to teens about cell phone use while driving.
• Seventeen Magazine, AAA, and DOT join for “Two-Second Turnoff Day” PSA challenge
• ESPN reminds sports fans to stay off the phone during “On the Road to Camp” tour of 32 pro football training sites.
• DOT’s call to end distracted driving goes global as Secretary General Ban Ki-moon bans UN employees from texting while driving.
• American Idol winner Jordin Sparks encourages teens and their families to make a pledge to not text and drive as part of Allstate’s “X the TXT” campaign.
• The Oprah Winfrey Show declares a national "No Phone Zone" day and encourages drivers across America to drive distraction-free.