Branding the Idea of Stop Texting and Drive Safely!
In 2011 at least 23% of auto collisions involved the use of mobile phones. Nation-wide, that’s 1.3 million car accidents. If you’re traveling at 55mph, your car will cover the length of football field in just 5 seconds, which is the minimal amount of time your attention is taken away from the road when texting and driving. That’s long enough to cause serious accidents. And most assuredly, even fatal accidents.
Drivers are Still Texting and Driving
Amazingly, 55% of adult drivers still claim it’s easy to text and drive, and 77% of young adults are “very” or “somewhat” confident that they can safely text while driving. This is a troubling number, especially considering the fact that 39 states currently have laws that prohibit all drivers from text messaging while behind the wheel. (Source: textinganddrivingsafety.com)
Miss Utah USA, Jamie Lynn Crandall
Jamie Lynn Crandall, former Miss Utah USA (2011) and a professional model, made it her platform during her reign to promote the message that it’s very dangerous to text and drive. She helped found the campaign “Hang Up – Save a Life.” Her good friend, Lauren Mulkey, a student at East High School in Salt Lake City, had just dropped Jamie off after a holiday event, then moments later was killed by a texting driver. This life-changing event inspired Jamie to use her position as Miss Utah USA to promote a campaign to alert the people of Utah about the dangers of texting while driving.
Her Campaign Against Texting While Driving
Now, seven years later, Jamie is still very committed to the cause. Though her efforts were instrumental in helping create a no-texting while driving law in Utah, the statistics shown above demonstrate the need for continued messaging targeted at both young adults and all drivers alike. During her year as Miss Utah USA she campaigned across the state, mostly speaking at high schools, as a person who had experienced the tragedy first hand.
Jamie: Not Going to Give Up
After relinquishing her crown, Jamie continued her career as a working model, which has taken her from Chicago to Florida to Los Angeles. Now back in Utah she intends to continue the messaging campaign and branding to alert drivers throughout the state and beyond to help people understand the personal tragedies and life-changing consequences of texting while driving.
“Hang Up – Save a Life”
BWP was fortunate to work with Jamie on a branding project for our clients where we had the opportunity to get to know her. (Shown here are some of the photos she did for us.) We are very happy to help Jamie further her cause by helping to promote the notion of “Hang Up – Save a Life.”
Thanks for all you do Jamie! And from all of us at BWP, we encourage Utah drivers to turn off your phones before your drive.