We’ve all been there. Friends, family members or even rideshare drivers hear that *ping* and immediately reach for their smartphone while driving. You’re uneasy but feel awkward speaking up.

Everyone responds to phone notifications. Right?

While more than 8-in-10 people continue to drive distracted1, speaking up to others and spreading awareness of the dangers is more important than ever. Today, in honor of AT&T’s annual It Can Wait Pledge Day, we’re asking people to not only pledge (or renew their pledge) to never drive distracted, but also to encourage their social circle to do the same. And research shows these actions work—half of people are more likely to stop driving distracted if friends or passengers ask them to do so.1

That’s why throughout the month of September, we are sharing information on how to pledge and speak up with ads featuring Aparna Nancherla and with social media posts from our online advocates. 

We’ve brought people face-to-face with the dangers of distracted driving through our immersive VR experience at events such as the Dallas Cowboys’ season opener, the AT&T Employee Groups Conference, and at General Motors and Swift Transportation headquarters, where we participated in their employee safety initiatives.

After nearly a decade, we’ve captured more than 38M pledges to never drive distracted and continue to evolve our message with the ever-changing mobile and digital landscape.

This Pledge Day, we encourage you to speak up—no matter the distraction— and pledge to yourself and others to never do it again. At AT&T, we take this commitment to heart and will continue our efforts until this behavior is ancient history.  

Distracted driving is reckless. Take the pledge at ItCanWait.com.

1 Online survey with 982 respondents conducted by Added Value. Ongoing survey, data represented here were collected April 2019-June 2019. National panel sample (ages 15-54, drive, and have a smartphone).