Peter F.

Kilmartin Attorney General

NEWS
Rhode Island Office of the Attorney General
150 South Main Street, Providence, RI 02903 www.riag.ri.gov Contact:
RI Attorney General Amy Kempe (401) 274-4400 x.2234 (401) 952-7726 cell akempe@riag.ri.gov RIDOT Heidi Gudmundson (401) 222-1362, Ext. 4009 (401) 641-8685 hgudmundson@dot.ri.gov AT&T Meaghan Wims (401) 278-4434 (401) 261-1641 mwims@duffyshanley.com

AG KILMARTIN AND RIDOT PARTNER WITH AT&T TO RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT DANGERS OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING
Txtng & Drivng It Can Wait Awareness Campaign will Include Visits to R.I. Schools Declare September 19 th as Dont Text and Drive Day in Rhode Island The statistics are startling: While nearly all teenagers know that texting while driving is dangerous, 43 percent of them admit to sending texts while they drive, and they say that adults set a bad example by texting and driving themselves. To bring greater awareness to the dangers of texting while driving, Attorney General Peter F. Kilmartin and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation Office on Highway Safety(RIDOT) are teaming up to bring AT&Ts powerful Txtng & DrivngIt Can Wait awareness campaign to schools throughout Rhode Island this year. The It Can Wait campaign will launch on September 19 with a visit to Cranston High School [West/East] by Kilmartin, RIDOT Director Michael Lewis Lewis, Cranston Mayor Allan Fung, AT&T New England President Patricia Jacobs, RIDOT Director Mike Lewis and school officials. Whether turning the phone off, taking a pledge, or just making it a personal practice, the next time you think about sending or answering a text while operating a vehicle please remember it can wait. The reality is that no message is so urgent that it is worth diverting attention from the

road and risking lives in the process, said Attorney General Kilmartin, who sponsored the states landmark legislation in 2009 banning texting while driving in Rhode Island. By sharing the sobering consequences of texting while driving to young drivers, we hope to change young drivers attitudes about the subject and encourage the public to put away cell phones while behind the wheel. [Lewis quote] Texting while driving is a choice, and a bad one at that. We encourage all drivers to make the right choices behind the wheel, like putting away handheld devices, obeying the speed limit and always buckling up, said Lewis. Young drivers, in particular, are inexperienced behind the wheel and dont need additional distractions. As we have learned, the consequences of sending or reading a text can be deadly. Dont text and drive. It can wait. Throughout the school year, AG Kilmartin and RIDOT will bring the public awareness campaign to area high schools and ask students and teachers to take the It Can Wait pledge. Schools interested in participating should contact the Office of Attorney General at 401-274-4400 ext 2334. This partnership is just the latest way AT&T is continuing to spread the word about the dangers of texting and driving as part of the It Can Wait campaign in Rhode Island and across the country. "We are thrilled to be working with Attorney General Kilmartin and the Rhode Island Department of Transportation on this growing public safety issue," said Patricia Jacobs, president of AT&T, New England. "Bringing the message directly to teenage drivers is especially important, as recent studies have shown they are most likely to engage in this unsafe behavior." [Pattie Jacobs quote]
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Kilmartin, Lewis and AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson today urged all Americans to pledge to never text and drive, and join with others on Sept. 19 to celebrate their lifelong personal commitment to help prevent injuries and deaths caused by texting while driving. To take the no-texting-and-driving pledge, all drivers to go to www.itcanwait.com, and then share their promise with others via Twitter (#itcanwait) and Facebook. More than 100,000 times each year, an automobile crashes and countless people are injured or die because the driver was texting while driving, said AT&T Chairman and CEO Randall Stephenson, citing a statistic from the National Safety Council 1. Our goal is to save lives, Stephenson said. I hear from far too many people whose lives have been forever changed by a texting-while-driving accident, and together, wethey want to spread the word about how deadly a single text can be. Wed like to see textingTexting and driving become as socially unacceptable as drinking and driving. (See video)

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Were challenging all Americanseveryone to take the pledge to never text and drive and to make it a lifelong commitment, he said. And were challenging all device makers and app developers to offer devices that come pre-loaded with a no-text-and-drive technology solution. A recent AT&T survey2 found that texting 97 percent of teens say they know that texting is dangerous. while driving is most prevalent among teens ages 15-19. The study found that 97 percent of teens say they know that texting is dangerous. The survey also found: 75 percent of teens surveyed say that texting while driving is common among their friends; Almost all teens (89 percent) expect a reply to a text or email within five minutes or less; And 77 percent of teens report seeing their parents text while driving. AT&T first began its It Can Wait campaign discouraging texting and driving in 2009. The website www.itcanwait.com provides Americans an opportunity to take the dont text and drive pledge. The websiteIt also offers a host of educational resources and information associated with texting while driving including a documentary on peoplefeaturing families impacted by texting and driving accidents that has been viewed more than 3 million times. For additional information on AT&Ts It Can Wait campaign, please visit www.att.com/itcanwait.

*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.
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National Safety Council Survey conducted by Beck Research on behalf of AT&T http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/txting_driving/att_teen_survey_executive.pdf. About AT&T AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates AT&T operating companies are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nations fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloud-based services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse and AT&T DIRECTV brands. The companys suite of IP-based business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other

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