Community Corner
Berkeley & Oakland Compete in No-Texting-While-Driving Pledge Drive
A contest is being held today, Thursday, between Berkeley and Oakland to see which city can get more residents to pledge not to text while driving. Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan are sponsoring the contest.
Published Sept. 19, 2013, 12:09 p.m., updated 7:07 p.m.
Berkeley and Oakland launched an inter-city contest today, Thursday, as part of a national campaign to prevent drivers from texting behind the wheel.
The contest is to see which city has more residents take the pledge, “I will never text while driving,” today, which is "It Can Wait Drive 4 Pledges Day."
Participants take pledge via text message and share their pledge with others.
Berkeley City Council Vice President Linda Maio and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan appeared this afternoon at Oakland Technical High School with other officials and a representative of AT&T for a program to formally announce the competition. A news release about the event said it was being launched by Quan and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.
Those who wish to participate in taking the pledge can sign up at itcanwait.com.
A statement from AT&T says, "Aspiring to create a social stigma around this dangerous habit of texting while driving, Drive 4 Pledges Day focuses on getting individuals involved in taking the pledge to never text and drive while encouraging others in their community to do the same."
The campaign is spearheaded by AT&T and three other telecommunications companies – Sprint, T-Mobile US, and Verizon.
Albany police are conducting an enforcement campaign against texting and using a hand-held phone while driving on Friday.
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Berkeley and Oakland launched an inter-city contest today, Thursday, as part of a national campaign to prevent drivers from texting behind the wheel.
The contest is to see which city has more residents take the pledge, “I will never text while driving,” today, which is "It Can Wait Drive 4 Pledges Day."
Participants take pledge via text message and share their pledge with others.
Berkeley City Council Vice President Linda Maio and Oakland Mayor Jean Quan appeared this afternoon at Oakland Technical High School with other officials and a representative of AT&T for a program to formally announce the competition. A news release about the event said it was being launched by Quan and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates.
Those who wish to participate in taking the pledge can sign up at itcanwait.com.
A statement from AT&T says, "Aspiring to create a social stigma around this dangerous habit of texting while driving, Drive 4 Pledges Day focuses on getting individuals involved in taking the pledge to never text and drive while encouraging others in their community to do the same."
The campaign is spearheaded by AT&T and three other telecommunications companies – Sprint, T-Mobile US, and Verizon.
Albany police are conducting an enforcement campaign against texting and using a hand-held phone while driving on Friday.
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