The mobile network giant AT&T will launch a video to go with their campaign to end texting and driving.
AutoWeek reports that the video will be posted before New Year's Eve, often a time when unfit drivers hit the road after drinking one too many celebratory beverages. Lack of judgement leads them to think it's OK to text and could end up causing a serious car accident.
AT&T calls the video "The Last Text," an 11-minute confessional that tells what kind of dark mark the act of driving and texting can leave behind. People whose lives were changed forever speak of their pain in the video, such as the parents of Mariah West, who died in a car accident while texting. Her last text? "Where u at."
Schools and government agencies will receive hard copies of the video and a digital version will be posted on YouTube.
Launched in March, the video is part of the "It Can Wait" campaign - a TV, print and online effort to encourage drivers to take a pledge not to text and drive. Friends can sign up on Facebook or do it on their own.
According to the Department of Transportation, 5,500 people died in 2009 from distracted driving, many of whom were under 20 years old.