Some Buffalo area high schools are being encouraged to sign up for a national program to prevent texting and driving. AT&T has teamed up with the Buffalo Sabres and team captain Steve Ott for the "It Can Wait" program.
Ott appears in a 30-second YouTube video encouraging drivers, especially teens, to avoid texting while driving. http://youtu.be/zyfNpPLHBs4
High school students in the Buffalo region are urged to go online to www.whyipledge.com/buffalo. They fill out a pledge form not to text and drive in their lifetime.
Schools with a hockey program have a chance at winning with the most pledges. The winning school will have a chance to meet Ott and the school's hockey team will hold a practice at First Niagara Center in downtown Buffalo hosted by Ott.
"Not only can the students take the pledge, but also we are encouraging them to take action themselves to get their friends, family members, their neighbors to also go to the website. If they do, those pledges count towards the contest. The school that has the most pledges will win," said Kevin Hanna, external affairs director for AT&T.
More than 30 schools are eligible to participate. The schools are located within a 30-mile radius of Buffalo:
Buffalo, NY - High Schools
Bennett High School
Bishop Timon-Saint Jude High School
Buffalo Seminary School
Burgard Vocational High School
Canisius High School
East High School
Emerson Of Hospitality School
Grover Cleveland High School
Hutchinson Central Technical High School
Kenmore West Senior High School
Lafayette High School
Leonardo Da Vinci High School
Mckinley Vocational High School
Mount Mercy Academy School
Nardin Academy High School
Riverside Institute Of Technology School
Saint Joseph's Collegiate Institute School
South Park High School
Western New York Maritime Charter School
West Seneca East High
West Seneca West High
Lackawana High
Cheektowaga High
Cleveland Hill High School
John F Kennedy Senior High
Maryvale High School
Lancaster High School
Williamsville North
Williamsville South
Orchard Park High
St. Francis High School
Erie 1 Boces
The contest kicked off on Sunday at ends January 31. The winning high school will be selected in February. AT&T started the It Can Wait campaign in 2009 realizing the deadly combination of texting and driving.
"Every year, more than 100,000 accidents due to texting while driving. That's 275 accidents a day. Some of those accidents are fatal," stated Hanna.
The campaign is designed to attract the first full generation growing up with smart phones in their hands while operating a vehicle.