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New BMW Ads Make Parents Think Twice About Texting While Driving
BMW is launching a new series of ads designed to shock parents into putting down that phone while driving. The commercials show hovering parents doing things to protect their kids. A father puts floaties on his baby’s arms before bathing him in a couple inches of water. A parent straps pads on her child and inserts a mouth guard before letting her skate down the sidewalk, and a mom slathers her daughter in hand sanitizer as she drops her off for school.
Yet, these same parents, who would go over and beyond to protect their most precious possessions, are then seen texting and driving with that same precious cargo in the back seat. The print ads are much the same – a picture of a parent texting while her cell phone blocks the view of a child running after a ball in the street.
The new ads address the growing problem of distracted driving. According to the National Safety Council, 100,000 car crashes have been tied to texting and driving each year. An additional 1.2 million accidents involve other cell phone use annually. Yet, despite knowing these numbers, people continue to text and drive. Why can’t Americans seem to break away from technology long enough to reach their destinations safely? Do you think these new ads will jolt parents into realizing just how dangerous texting and driving is? Making parents realize the result of texting and driving could very well be injury or death to their babies sure puts the dangers into context that we can understand.
I’m a careful driver. I always come to complete stops even if no one’s around. I don’t tailgate. I always use my signals. I’m defensive. However, I hate to admit, I have texted a few times in the past while driving. That is, until I realized that I have teens who are going to be driving soon. I don’t want them learning any bad habits from me. Now the phone gets put away when I get behind the wheel. So, it was essentially my concern for my kids that made me stop texting entirely. Because parents want to do whatever they possibly can to protect their children and teach them right from wrong, I think these ads will be effective in making parents think twice before picking up that phone. What do you think? Do you text and drive? What will it take to get you to stop?
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8 Comments
Sue Rafferty commented on Jul 04 11 at 1:55 pmI know a woman whose teenage son, an eagle scout, well loved by friends and family, died in a one car accident that happened while he was texting. I’m glad you’re setting a good example for your kids.
Erik Wood commented on Jul 04 11 at 8:28 pmI think this effort by BMW will help drivers of any age get the message. It has to start with the end user, the driver…deciding not to partake in distracted driving and this will help drive that message home.
I also decided to do something about teen (and adult) distracted driving after my three year old daughter was nearly run down right in front of me by a texting driver. Instead of a shackle that locks down phones and alienates the user (especially teens) I built a tool for teens and their parents called OTTER that is a simple, GPS based, texting auto reply app for smartphones. It also silences call ringtones while driving unless you have a bluetooth enabled. I think if we can empower the individual then change will come to our highways now and not just our laws.
Erik Wood, owner
OTTER LLC
OTTER app
meme commented on Jul 07 11 at 9:42 pmLove it! But it’s not just texting…eating in the car, putting on makeup, even just changing the radio station or adjusting your a/c levels can distract you from watching the road…
Alicia commented on Jul 12 11 at 1:34 pmWhat made you think texting while driving was a good idea in the first place?! I mean, it’s good you’ve stopped now, but what went through your head the first time you even tried it?! It’s plain common sense that it’s a bad idea! *Anything* that takes your eyes off the road or distracts your attention is a bad idea while driving! Why does BMW have to make these commercials in the first place? Why can’t people stop and think once in awhile?!
Alicia commented on Jul 12 11 at 1:39 pmI also think you have a good idea, Erik, but I think that to curb this behavior once and for all there needs to be frequency jammers put into all cars that turn on once the engine turns over so that all cell phone frequencies are jammed while driving. If you want to make a call or text, you have to pull over and turn the engine off to turn off the jammer. This is no less dangerous and irresponsible than drunk driving, and should be treated just as harshly. Long before I had a cell phone, a friend was almost killed by a driver on his cell phone, and I swore I would never call or text while driving. Let’s use our brains here, people.
Dawn Damalas Meehan commented on Jul 12 11 at 2:03 pmWell, I suppose, Alicia, that I’ve texted a few times because despite the fact that I know it’s bad, I’ve made a poor choice. Clearly, I’m not perfect, but maybe someday I’ll be as perfect as you and can pass judgement on others too.
Tamara commented on Jul 12 11 at 5:29 pm@Dawn
It’s not about being “perfect”, it is about choosing not to do something stupid, thoughtless, selfish, and irresponsible.
No one is perfect! But when one picks up their , they are choosing to take their eyes off the road, to put their attention elsewhere, and possible cause some sort of collision or kill someone. Notice I didn’t say accident? An accident would be a driver who has their entire attention on the road, doing everything in their power to avoid such things.
Everyone has the choice to ignore their distractions while driving. People who are killed don’t have any choices left. I think this is about common sense. It’s not about someone being judgmental. If this ad made you think about your actions, then it served it’s purpose. I hope it did.
Chris commented on Jul 13 11 at 1:55 pmWell, I have texted and drove before. I KNEW it was irresponsible, wreckless, dangerous, and down right stupid. People do this kind of stuff. If you have ever driven over the speed limit, didn’t get your lights turned on at the exact moment of dusk, didn’t come to a complete stop, or any other number of things that not only puts you but also OTHERS in danger, then you are doing the same thing of jumping all over Dawn of doing. NO ONE is perfect and I know that those who are judging have done something stupid, thoughtless, selfish and irresponsible as well. It’s human nature. If you guys haven’t done something stupid, thoughtless, selfish and irresponsible in the car, then I know you have doing something else, because that’s how we are made. If you say you haven’t, then you are either lying or Jesus.
Dawn, as someone who has done this before, I understand wher eyou are coming from. My daughter will get her learner’s permit in a few months, and we’ve had many discussions and I have stopped doing it. I think that the commerical will help. There are some of us who do stupid things that are good people. It never ceases to amaze me the judgement by others. *shakes head*
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