Kansas Insurance begins campaign to stop texting and driving

Sept. 22--A person hops in their car, heads to a destination and while commuting, their phone pings from a text alert. Now that person's eyes are glued to their phone, and not paying attention to the the road.

It's an all too familiar scenario, and it's known as texting and driving.

Ken Selzer, Kansas Commissioner of Insurance, hopes the "Don't Text #Just Drive" campaign can do something to help with the problem

"Just about everybody now knows or has heard of somebody who has been in an accident caused by texting while you drive," Selzer said Tuesday during a stop in Garden City promoting the campaign.

Selzer believes people generally understand the issue and hopes they focus on taking action to reduce their own personal texting while driving habits.

The Kansas Insurance Department, insurance companies and governmental sponsors created the campaign to get university students and supporters to pledge to stop texting while driving.

The participating schools in the campaign are the University of Kansas, Kansas State University, Wichita State University, Fort Hays State University, Pittsburg State University, Washburn University and Emporia State University.

University supporters are urged to pledge that they won't text and drive. The pledge reads that: "No text message, email, website or video is worth the risk of endangering my life or the lives of others on the road. I pledge to not text and drive and will take action to educate others about the dangers of texting while driving. No text is worth the risk. It can wait."

Supporters of each participating university can take the pledge two ways: online or by text messaging. The number of pledges each school receives will be compared to official fall 2016 enrollment to calculate a percentage.

Voting began on Monday and will end Nov. 22. Results will be tabulated, and the winner will announced during university athletic contests this fall and winter.

Pledge votes can be cast by texting 50555 and choosing one of the school keywords: KU, Wildcat, Shocker, Tiger, Gorilla, Ichabod or Hornet. Voters can also go online at engage.att.com/icwkansas. More information about the campaign can also be found at www.ksinsurance.org/justdrive.

Selzer also encourages people to like the campaign Facebook page, "Don't Text #JustDrive."

The campaign pledge is open to people of all ages and they do not have to be a current student at one of the participating universities.

"Anybody can vote in support of a school. Families, faculty, alumni -- alumni will make a big difference in this campaign and just general supporters," Selzer said. "You pick the school that you want to support in this pledge contest. Then that school will have significant bragging rights when they win, so we're looking forward to everybody across the state of Kansas getting involved with this."

Selzer said the ultimate goal of the campaign is to save lives, adding that the goal is to reach 40,000 pledges across the state. He cited statistics indicating cell phone use figures into about 25 percent of all accidents.

"We know that texting is more distracting when you drive than just about anything you can do with your cell phone," he said.

Selzer said the fatality rate in Kansas is on the rise after decreasing for several years, a change many believe is due to issues about using cell phones while driving.

According to the Kansas Insurance website, 11 teens die every day in the U.S. as a result of texting and driving. A AAA poll said that 94 percent of teen drivers acknowledge the dangers of texting and driving, but 35 percent admitted to doing it anyway.

A national study found that three out of four people surveyed admitted to texting while driving, even though they agreed that the activity is dangerous to themselves and others, according to a press release.

As of Tuesday, it is not known how many pledges have been received since the campaign started, but Selzer said the first tally is scheduled around Oct. 1.

Selzer believes the more pledges received to not text and drive, the more it will help reduce the number of traffic fatalities in Kansas.

"There will be fewer car accidents, so perhaps we can temper the rate of growth in auto insurance premiums," Selzer said. "We look forward to seeing how the counts develop over the next 10 weeks."

According to the press release, university officials and student government leaders from each university are supporting the contest. They will be promoting the voting/pledge through a number of on-campus and alumni association events.

Kendall Schoenekase, Miss Kansas 2016, is promoting the campaign. She has chosen "Stay Alive, Don't Text and Drive" as her campaign issue during her reign as Miss Kansas. She and Selzer filmed a series of public service announcements and recorded radio announcements that will be aired on Kansas media and at athletic contests throughout the campaign.

Major funding for the promotion of the contest comes from AT&T, the Kansas Department of Transportation, the Kansas Automobile Insurance Plan, the Kansas Turnpike Authority, Allstate Insurance Co., State Farm Mutual Insurance Co., Farmers Insurance, AAA and Upland Mutual.

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(c)2016 The Garden City Telegram (Garden City, Kan.)

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