By Ryan Luckey, assistant vice president of Corporate Brand Marketing

 

Our It Can Wait campaign is making sure everyone hears the message loud and clear during Distracted Driving Awareness Month: No distraction is worth a future.

 

In early April, we announced our new virtual reality experience that shows how smartphone distracted driving affects real lives. We worked with Jordan Spieth to draw comparisons between important decisions on the golf course and behind the wheel.

 

And today, we’re launching new ads to reach more people with this important message.

 

New research from AT&T shows 81% of people admit to texting behind the wheel.1 And sadly, texting while driving is responsible for the lives of 2 teenage boys featured in our new spots that shine a light on the faces of distracted driving.

 

If Caleb Sorohan and Forrest Cepeda were alive today, they might be pursuing their dream jobs or teaching their kids to play sports. Maybe they’d still be figuring life out. But we’ll never know – smartphone distracted driving cut their lives short.

 

Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris captured Caleb’s and Forrest’s heartbreaking stories through in-depth interviews with their families. In these short film productions, you’ll hear their siblings tell how special their lives were. You’ll see their mothers’ pain as they remember their loss. And through the collaboration of forensic artists and a visual effects team, you’ll even get a glimpse at what they would’ve looked like today.

 

It’s hard to watch, but it’s real. We hope it brings even more attention to this problem so other families don’t have to experience this tragedy.

 

You can see the new 30-second spots and full-length films (Caleb: 30-second and full-length; Forrest: 30-second and full-length) starting today. Over the next few weeks, you’ll see this message in different places – like at the movies, on social channels and through online video.

 

Since we launched It Can Wait in 2010, we’ve inspired nearly 25 million pledges to not drive distracted. But the cause of Caleb’s and Forrest’s deaths is still alive and well – and we must put a stop to it.

 

You can start by visiting ItCanWait.com/VR to view our new virtual reality experience at home. Take the pledge. Share Caleb’s and Forrest’s stories with your loved ones.

 

Help us make our roads a safer place and please don’t drive distracted.

Online survey with 7,505 respondents (total distracted drivers n=6,438) conducted by Kantar Added Value. Ongoing survey, data represented here were collected January 2017- December 2017. National panel sample (ages 15-54, drive, and have a smartphone).