AT&T, Univ. of USVI partner to curb texting while driving

The University of the Virgin Islands and AT&T recently held a joint event in the neighboring territory seeking to drive home the message with students that no text is worth a life or injury.
During the event held late last week, AT&T set up a texting simulator through which participants were able to experience a simulation involving a city of about eight blocks and realistic texts that appear on the smartphone accompanying the simulator.
The idea is to re-create the eyes-off-the-road and hands-off-the-wheel experience of texting while driving. Students, staff and police officers tried their hand at the experience, AT&T said.
The simulator is part of the “It Can Wait program,” founded by AT&T in 2010 to help put an end to texting while driving. Since its launch, more than 5 million pledges have been made to never text and drive, and the free AT&T DriveMode app has been downloaded more than 1.5 million times and more than 2,500 organizations have joined the movement, the carrier said.