The battle against texting while driving will soon get more graphic. AAA Carolinas wants to air a 30-second public service announcement in Greensboro and three other North Carolina cities that depicts the deaths of four people caused by a texting driver.
The battle against texting while driving will soon get more graphic.
AAA Carolinas wants to air a 30-second public service announcement in Greensboro and three other North Carolina cities that depicts the deaths of four people caused by a texting driver.
The segment comes from a 30-minute film made for a police department in Wales. In a matter of months, the video has become a YouTube classic, attracting more than 4 million hits.
Viewers have been attracted by the crashing
While authorities disagree over the lasting impact such videos have on young people -- the group most likely to text and drive -- there's no doubt where AAA Carolinas stands.
"We believe strongly that teenagers need graphic messages in order to change their behavior," said Tom Crosby, president of the AAA Carolinas Foundation for Traffic Safety. "Texting while driving is the new drunk driving."
Crosby said studies have shown that a driver who is texting is just as likely to be in an accident as someone who is legally intoxicated.
On Tuesday, texting while driving became illegal in North Carolina, carrying a fine up to $100, plus court costs.
AAA Carolinas has long supported such legislation. Last year, the Charlotte-based motor club began using billboards and placards at gas stations to warn motorists about the dangers of using
The club calls the clip it wants to broadcast "one of the most graphic 30-second traffic safety videos ever aired."
On its Web site, AAA Carolinas has posted the 4-minute, 15-second version that became popular on YouTube. It comes with a warning the content is graphic and viewer discretion is advised.
The more graphic the better, say those who made the film.
Police in Gwent, a county in southeast Wales, produced the film for about $20.000 with the idea of showing it to Welsh
"Young people were telling us, 'It needs to be more shocking. It needs to be more violent. It needs to be more truthful,' the film director, Peter Watkins-Hughes, told The New York Times. "In this one, we?ve gone for grim reality."
The film tells the story of fictional, 17-year-old Cassie Cowan. While driving with two friends, Cowan becomes distracted using her cell phone.
Her car drifts across the center line and hits an oncoming vehicle. A third car slams into the pileup.
The filmmakers take viewers inside Cowan?s car. They see the whiplash, the flying glass, the bloody faces. They hear Cowan's screams when she realizes she has killed her two friends.
Two others die in another vehicle.
"This video may shock some, but that's the intent," David Parsons, president and CEO of AAA Carolinas, said in a news release. "Texting while driving is deadly. It takes your eyes off the road, your hands off the wheel and your mind off driving."
The AAA foundation will begin airing its 30-second public service announcement as soon as it has copyright permission. In addition to Greensboro, the spot will run in Charlotte, Raleigh and Fayetteville.
AAA Carolinas says it will share the PSA for free with any community organization, high school or church group that wants to use it.
Greensboro News-Record, Donald W. Patterson, Staff Writer