Governor Abercrombie signed a pledge to never text while driving.
A number of teenagers say no text is worth dying for.
These juniors and seniors from Waipahu school aren’t just talking the talk by signing the pledge, they’re actually walking the walk.
"I was actually texting my friend the other day and my friend texted late and I asked why? And he said that he was driving and he couldn’t text. So, I was really proud of him, I was like yeah!" shared Tiffany Ganti, Waipahu High senior.
And when it comes to texting and driving students may know best what is at stake.
"You can hurt yourself and the others around you as well," said Edgar Pobre, Waipahu High Junior. "Cause you’re in a vehicle and you can cause an accident and other people get hurt, your passengers and all that.
More than 100,000 crashes each year in the U.S. Because of texting and driving.
AT&T conducted a survey of students and found some alarming numbers. Students say 3 out 4 people text while driving.
And they may be learning from mom and dad…In that same survey 77% of the students said they’ve seen their parents text while driving.
The Governor signed the pledge even though he doesn’t drive.
"So believe it or not it gives me a lot of chances to observe things, and I see it myself," Abercrombie said. "The number of people texting while driving is astounding to me."
And the pledge campaign is one way AT&T is hoping to make a difference.
"As you know our goal is to simply save lives," said Shareen Urakami-Oyama, AT&T. "And to send a message to everyone that no text is worth dying for."
Not to mention that it is against the law. And the Honolulu Police Department is watching. In a three and a half hour traffic safety enforcement period in Kalihi HPD officers handed out 138 citations, with a staggering 63 of them, nearly half being for electronic devices.
See the original article at: KHON2 Local News
