Johnny Manziel, Merril Hoge and refusing to pay it forward at Dunkin Donuts – WFNY Podcast – 2015-09-19
September 19, 2015Buckeyes Win Ugly, Defeat Huskies 20-13
September 19, 2015THIS POST IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY AT&T IT CAN WAIT
WFNY is proud to participate in the AT&T It Can Wait campaign, raising awareness for drivers to keep their eyes on the road and not their phones.
The face of the campaign is Fletcher Cleaves, a promising football player out of Memphis who became paralyzed from the chest down in the aftermath of a tragic accident on Sept, 9, 2009, the very day he was announced as a starter for the Lambuth University’s football team. What seemed like an ordinary drive changed Fletcher’s life forever when an oncoming driver, distracted from looking at their phone, drifted over the center line and drove head on into Cleaves’ lane. One glance is all it took to go from a football scholarship to a wheelchair in a matter of seconds.
Despite losing his scholarship and missing the first year of college, Fletcher has persevered in his recovery. Six years after the accident, he has recently graduated from the University of Memphis and moved out on his own. He was featured on ESPN’s College Game Day on Saturday to see his story debut.
Just this year, AT&T research found that 7 in 10 drivers engage in smartphone activities behind the wheel, with 4 in 10 using social media. Other startling findings from AT&T include 30% of people who post to Twitter behind the wheel state they do it “all the time.” Of those who shoot videos behind the wheel, 27% think they can do it safely while driving. 22% who access social networks while driving cite addiction as a reason.1
Join us in helping the cause. We encourage you to share Fletcher’s story and supportive statistics with friends and family on Facebook and Twitter, but not from behind a wheel. “It Can Wait” efforts have already made an impact, but there is no such thing as too much awareness.
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This post is btought to you by AT&T. To learn more about their “It Can Wait” campaign, please visit their website.
- Research commissioned by AT&T and conducted by Braun. Polled 2,067 people in the U.S. aged 16-65 who use their smartphone and drive at least once a day. [↩]