Video Contest Encourages Tampa Bay Teens: It Can Wait

TAMPA, FL – Sometimes, all it takes is to start a conversation with someone to stop a bad – or even potentially deadly – behavior.

According to research done by AT&T, 57 percent of people are more likely to stop driving distracted if a friend or passenger pressures them to stop. As part of Distracted Driving Awareness Month in April, AT&T is encouraging teens to speak up to remind their friends to keep their eyes on the road and off their smartphones while driving.

To get the conversation going, AT&T is inviting high school students in the Tampa Bay area to participate in a video contest to spread AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign message to their friends and family.

The entry with the most number of retweets on Twitter will be chosen as the winner. The contest winner will earn bragging rights and will get to choose a nonprofit with a safe driving program to receive a $1,000 donation.

Participants in the contest can use some of the research AT&T has shown for background, including:

• For one in three drivers, distracted driving is a habit
• Seven in 10 people engage in smartphone activities while driving
• Sixty-two percent of respondents keep their smartphones within easy reach while driving
• Nearly four in 10 smartphone users tap into social media while driving
• Facebook tops the social platform list – more than a quarter of those pooled use the app while driving. About one in seven said they’re on Twitter behind the wheel
• Twenty-two percent who access social networks while driving cite addiction as a reason

The It Can Wait video contest is open to public or private high school students in Hernando, Hillsborough, Pasco, Pinellas and Polk counties.

Videos must be submitted by Wednesday, April 19 to karenmcallister@att.com. The contest on Twitter will run from April 22-27, and can be found with the hashtags #ICWTampa #Contest.

For more information, rules and guidelines, visit http://florida.att.com/icw-video-competition.

Image via Shutterstock