"Don't Be That Guy" Campaign Materials

Distracted Driving Prevention Campaign Materials

It’s safe to say, at this point, that most people know that distracted driving is a bad idea.  Over the last decade, public service campaigns from the government, nonprofits, and even phone companies have raised awareness of the dire consequences of texting and driving. New laws have placed serious restrictions on what people can do with their phones in their cars.  And yet, in Massachusetts, the number of distracted crashes has risen 170 percent from 2014-2016.

It’s time for ads to go beyond awareness and start focusing on behavior change.  A major challenge to this is what researchers call the “third person” effect: when people are reminded of the dangers of texting and driving, they assume it’s the other guy who’s the problem.  Not them-they’re great at multitasking.

To that end, our ad below for Distracted Driving Awareness Month this April, aims to close the gap between our behavior and our self-perception by showing how we become that guy – the one who puts us all in danger – when we text and drive.  The good news is that we can do something about that guy inside of us by remembering when we get behind the wheel- just drive.

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