Put your phone down!
It Can Wait campaign seeks to reduce texting mishaps
By Bryce Haugly
Posted April 29, 2015
Every single year over 5,000 people are killed in accidents involving texting and driving. Over 330,000 people are injured each year from accidents that could easily be prevented from just ignoring a text message until you are done driving.
On average it takes five seconds to respond to a text. Going 55 miles per hour, you will travel the length of a football field. Most people will say that they feel confident, and they are good at texting, but so did the 5,000 people that died just last year. Driving increases your chances of crashing up to 23 percent. It has been known that texting and driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving.
Krista Olson, the community education director, started a campaign called “It can wait.” To make a pledge for the campaign, students texted a code to a number. This was a campaign involving four communities, including Aitkin, Crosby, McGreger and Hill City.
She decided to turn it into a competition to get more students to take the pledge to not text and drive. Olson said she started this campaign because she has a state trooper for a husband and knows that these types of things can happen more often than people think. Also, she wants to set a good example for her kids.
Olson said she thinks this will make a difference in our community. ”I think it will but I hope the kids will take the pledge to heart and not just do it for the competition," she said. "The overall goal for the campaign is to save lives because all of these lives can be saved by ignoring your phone and saying 'It can wait.'"
Posted April 29, 2015
Every single year over 5,000 people are killed in accidents involving texting and driving. Over 330,000 people are injured each year from accidents that could easily be prevented from just ignoring a text message until you are done driving.
On average it takes five seconds to respond to a text. Going 55 miles per hour, you will travel the length of a football field. Most people will say that they feel confident, and they are good at texting, but so did the 5,000 people that died just last year. Driving increases your chances of crashing up to 23 percent. It has been known that texting and driving is more dangerous than drinking and driving.
Krista Olson, the community education director, started a campaign called “It can wait.” To make a pledge for the campaign, students texted a code to a number. This was a campaign involving four communities, including Aitkin, Crosby, McGreger and Hill City.
She decided to turn it into a competition to get more students to take the pledge to not text and drive. Olson said she started this campaign because she has a state trooper for a husband and knows that these types of things can happen more often than people think. Also, she wants to set a good example for her kids.
Olson said she thinks this will make a difference in our community. ”I think it will but I hope the kids will take the pledge to heart and not just do it for the competition," she said. "The overall goal for the campaign is to save lives because all of these lives can be saved by ignoring your phone and saying 'It can wait.'"