In an effort to get the message out about the dangers of texting and driving, the Ad Council and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) have joined together with state Attorneys General to create three public service announcements called “Stop the Texts. Stop the Wrecks.”

The campaign, aimed at teens, shows the very real and potentially deadly consequences of reaching for a phone to read and respond to texts behind the wheel. The video highlighted below shows a teen distracted by a text alert. She picks up her phone to respond, but since she’s not looking at the road she doesn’t see the stop sign at the intersection ahead of her and crashes.

The other two PSAs start by making light of people who try to walk and text at the same time with laughable results, but end with teens texting behind the wheel and putting themselves and the others in the car in danger:

Each PSA has a call to action that asks, “How will you stop texting and driving?” and sends viewers to Stoptextsstopwrecks.org for more information.

Teen drivers are already 4 times more likely than any other age group to be involved in a motor vehicle crash. If you factor in texting, which increases the crash rate by up to 23 times, it’s a recipe for disaster.

For more information on distracted driving and teen safety, see our special section.

Related:
Fighting distracted driving: Technology can be part of the solution
Making NOYS: Teen safety summit tackles the dangers of texting and driving head on