WHEELING -
WTRF.com UPDATE
A new anti-texting and driving initiative is being spear-headed by AT&T, and local employees in Wheeling are hoping right on board.
The people who sold you your cell phone are now telling you what to do with it.
"We're the first people you are talking to about your cell phones, so why wouldn't we be the first to show people this is what our standards are?" said store manager Eric Hersey.
Wednesday, employees at the AT&T on National Road donned brand new shirts reminding their customers to put down their phones while driving.
"We are actually educating," Hersey said. "We are telling everyone how to go pledge at www.itcanwait.com".
The initiative is focusing on teenagers, and the parents who set the example for them.
That's what brought Diana Mey into the store Wednesday to buy a hands free device.
"I think it's important to send a message to my kids," Mey said. "I wanted to get away from fiddling with the phone while I'm driving because the statistics don't lie".
According to Hersey, 75 percent of people admittedly text and drive, and unfortunately over 100,000 accidents happen each year.
The initiative will officially launch on Sept. 19, 2012.
ORIGINAL STORY
Do you realize that you are 23 times more likely to be in an accident while you are texting while driving?
Texting and driving results in more than 100,000 accidents each year.
To help put a stop to the accidents, AT&T employees in Wheeling will help kick off a national effort to stop texting and driving on Wednesday, asking people to sign a "Don't Text and Drive" pledge in local stores.
AT&T plans to spend millions of dollars on the campaign in 2012.
You can join them at the AT&T located at 2019 National Road in Wheeling. Store employees will be handing out stickers and have a pledge for you to sign.
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