For more information, contact: Jim Greer, AT&T Wisconsin 608-252-2846 (work) 414-520-6398 (cell) jim.greer@att.

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Eau Claire Memorial High Students Learn About Dangers of Texting & Driving, Urged to Pledge Never to Text Behind the Wheel
AT&T Announces $5,000 Grant to Support It Can Wait Programs in Eau Claire
EAU CLAIRE, WIS., Friday, May 24, 2013 Nearly 1650 students at Eau Claire Memorial High School in Eau Claire learned about the dangers of texting and driving and were urged to sign a pledge to never text behind the wheel during an event at the school today. Additionally, AT&T announced a $5,000 grant to the Eau Claire Area Boys & Girls Club to support It Can Wait programs in Eau Claire. Eau Claire Memorial High School teamed up with AT&T, the Wisconsin State Patrol and State Representative Dana Wachs in a public awareness campaign to urge the schools students that text messages can and should wait until after driving. In todays age of instant communication, we know how tempting it is for our teens to respond to a text right away while driving even though they know its dangerous and against the law, said Principal Dave Oldenberg. We hope todays assembly will convince our students to put down their phones while driving and take the pledge to never text behind the wheel. We are thrilled to receive this grant from AT&T. said Sara Antonson, Executive Director of the Eau Claire Area Boys & Girls Club. Programs like todays assembly are a great kick off to our campaign to bring this message to teens in our area. Todays assembly was part of a series of high school events being held around the state b y AT&T, AAA and the Wisconsin State Patrol to drive home the dangers of texting behind the wheel. Students were given the chance to experience firsthand the dangers of texting while driving in a safe setting through AAAs distracted driving simulator. They were also shown a powerful AT&T documentary called The Last Text that shares real stories about lives altered or ended by someones decision to text and drive. Students were also urged to visit www.ItCanWait.com to take the no-texting-and-driving pledge, and then share their promise with others via Twitter (#itcanwait) and Facebook. More than 1.2 million people across the country have already taken the pledge to never text and drive. The pledge effort is part of AT&Ts national public awareness campaign aimed directly at stopping the dangerous practice of texting while driving. Far too many lives have been forever changed because someone decided to text behind the wheel, and we want to spread the word about how deadly a simple text can be, said Kent Disch, Director of External Affairs for AT&T

Wisconsin. Were challenging all drivers, particularly our teens, to take the pledge to never text and dr ive and make it a lifelong commitment. Wisconsin recently marked the second anniversary of its no-texting-while-driving ban on December 1, 2012. The law prohibits sending an e-mail or text message while driving and imposes a fine of up to $400. As a primary enforcement law, officers may stop and ticket drivers solely for texting and driving. Wisconsin is among 39 states that ban text messaging by all drivers. Texting and driving is a perilous mix. Not only is it against the law, but texting while driving endangers your life as well as the lives of others, said State Representative Dana Wachs. There is simply no text worth dying over, and I urge all drivers, especially our teens, to take the pledge to never text behind the wheel. Texting and driving is involved in more than 100,000 vehicle crashes each year, often causing injuries and 1 deaths. Studies show teen drivers are particularly at risk. While 97% of teens say they know texting while driving 2 is dangerous, 75% say the practice is common among their friends, according to an AT&T survey . Studies also show that drivers who send text messages behind the wheel are 23 times more likely to be in a crash. In 2012, 165 organizations joined AT&T in helping spread the message and encourage people to make a pledge to never text and drive. This year, AT&T is working to expand the campaign even further, including: Working with device makers to pre-load no-texting-while-driving technologies and solutions into handsets, with the goal of making these solutions standard on all AT&T smartphones; and Launching a year-round no-texting-while-driving simulator tour targeting more than 380 events nationwide

In addition to Eau Claire Memorial High School, Wisconsin assemblies have already been held this school year at Brookwood High School, Denmark High School, Three Lakes High School, Stevens Point Pacelli High School, St. Francis High School, Brookfield Central High School, Burlington High School, Edgar High School, La Crosse Logan High School and Washington Park High School in Racine. For more information on AT&Ts It Can Wait campaign, please visit: www.att.com/textingcanwait.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc
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National Safety Council www.nsc.org Survey conducted by Beck Research on behalf of AT&T http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/txting_driving/att_teen_survey_executive.pdf.

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