AT&T called on German filmmaker Werner Herzog to produce “From One Second to the Next,” a 35-minute documentary focusing on the perils of texting and driving. The video, which describes four car accidents caused by texting while driving, has been viewed more than 1.6 million times on YouTube. In 2011, there were more than 200,000 crashes involving texting, per the National Safety Council, while an AT&T Wireless survey found that 75% of teenagers say texting while driving is “common” among their friends, according to The New York Times. In light of such sobering statistics, the telecom companies need to take a proactive approach to reducing the problem. Otherwise, as these types of accidents occur, they will bear increasing culpability. AT&T is heading in the right direction by helping to fund the video and distribute it to more than 40,000 high schools.
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