It Can Wait Expands to Smartphone Use While Driving

When you see the driver next to you looking at their phone, it’s no longer safe to assume they’re texting. New research from AT&T shows nearly 4-in-10 smartphone users tap into social media while driving. Almost 3-in-10 surf the net. And surprisingly, 1-in-10 video chat.

7-in-10 people engage in smartphone activities while driving. Texting and emailing are still the most prevalent. But other smartphone activity use behind the wheel is now common. Among social platforms, Facebook tops the list, with more than a quarter of those polled using the app while driving. About 1-in-7 said they’re on Twitter behind the wheel.

AT&T will expand the It Can Wait^® campaign from a focus on texting while driving to include other smartphone driving distractions that have emerged as our relationships with our devices have changed.

AT&T will use the survey findings to help drive awareness of the dangers of smartphone use behind the wheel, and to encourage life-saving behavior change. It will collaborate with social platforms to share the message, and will launch a nationwide virtual reality tour this summer to help people understand that it’s not possible to drive safely while using a smartphone.

Twitter will collaborate with AT&T to share messages on their platform about the dangers of smartphone use behind the wheel.

Samsung, Bose and Google will support the immersive tour experience, which will be delivered through Samsung Gear VR, with premium sound from Bose QuietComfort^® 25 Acoustic Noise Cancelling^® Headphones. Google Cardboard will make it possible for people to use their own smartphones to see the 3D virtual reality program.

Since its launch in 2010, the It Can Wait campaign has:

• Helped drive awareness of the dangers of texting while driving to about 90% for all audiences surveyed.
• Inspired more than 6.5 million pledges not to text and drive.
• Worked with departments of transportation in Texas, Kentucky and other states on research that suggests a correlation between It Can Wait campaign activities and a reduction in crashes.

Read more in our news release or in the recent coverage from The New York Times.

View the complete It Can Wait Smartphone Use Survey.