Farmington Town Council Calls for Residents to Avoid Texting While Driving

At its meeting Sept. 10, the Avon Town Council adopted a proclamation designating Sept. 19 as “No Texting While Driving Day.” 

In doing so, the council hoped to "spread the message and educate our community on the dangers of texting while driving and that texting while driving can and should way," the proclamation stated.

AT&T approached Farmington, Avon and other Connecticut towns about participating in its statewide campaign to discourage texting while driving. The cellphone company started its related “It Can Wait” campaign in Connecticut and nationwide in 2009 "to educate the public about the dangers of texting while driving by encouraging consumers to take the personal pledge not to text while driving," according to the press release. 

The initiative compliments the driving safety awareness efforts already promoted by the police department. 

People who text while driving "are 23 times more likely to be involved in some type of safety critical event as compared to those drivers who don't text while they drive," according to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. Texting and driving is also a contributing factor to "over 100,000 motor vehicles crashes each year, often causing injuries and often times deaths," the proclamation stated. 

Drivers can sign the pledge at www.itcanwait.com and spread their word about participation in the pledge via Twitter (#itcanwait) and Facebook." More information is available at www.att.com/itcanwait.