For more information, contact:

Meaghan Wims Duffy & Shanley for AT&T New England (401) 278-4434 mwims@duffyshanley.com

AT&T AND MAINE BUREAU OF HIGHWAY SAFETY TO RAISE AWARENESS OF THE DANGERS OF TEXTING WHILE DRIVING THROUGH SCHOOL VISITS ACROSS STATE
PORTLAND, MAINE, AUGUST 15, 2012 The Maine Bureau of Highway Safety and AT&T* announced today they will be partnering to deliver a very strong message to high school students about the dangers of texting and driving during the coming school year. Texting and driving is a very serious public safety issue, especially among teenage drivers, said Robert Annese, Law Enforcement Liaison with the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety. Were thrilled to be working with AT&T, and to be using some of highly-effective materials theyve developed to raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving. The statistics are startling. While nearly all teenagers know that texting while driving is dangerous, 43 percent of them admit to sending texts while they drive, and they say that adults set a bad example by texting and driving themselves, said Patricia Jacobs, President of AT&T in New England. Were excited to bring our It Can Wait program to high schools across Maine, and thrilled to be working the Maine State Bureau of Highway Safety. Last year, officials from AT&T and Mr. Annese visited Cheverus High School together to speak about the dangers of texting and driving. This fall, visits to Cony High School in Augusta and York High School are planned. The school visits will include the showing of the ten-minute long documentary The Last Text and a request for students to sign a no texting while driving pledge. Todays announcement coincides with a new commitment by AT&T to raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving. The company is urging all Americans to pledge to never text and drive, and join with others on Sept. 19 to establish once and for all their lifelong personal commitment to help prevent injuries and deaths caused by texting while driving. Drivers can go to www.itcanwait.com to take a no-texting-and-driving pledge, and then share their promise with others via Twitter (#itcanwait) and Facebook. More than 100,000 times each year, an automobile crashes and people are injured or die because the driver was texting while driving, said AT&T Chairman & CEO Randall Stephenson, citing a statistic from the National Safety Council1.
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National Safety Council

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, who has described texting and driving as a national epidemic, said its a problem that can and must be solved. Distracted driving is an epidemic on our roadways, and we need people all across America to take action in their communities to help put a stop to it," said U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood. "I applaud AT&T for taking on this issue with the 'It Can Wait' campaign, and I thank them for helping to spread the word that no text or email is worth the risk." At the national level, AT&T has already, or plans to, take the following actions to raise awareness of the issue: Enlist its 240,000 employees to take the pledge and, in turn, urge all people to commit that they will never text and drive. On an average weekday, AT&T retail store and call center employees speak to customers more than 500,000 times. Working with TV and music celebrities to deliver a strong no-texting-while-driving message via TV ads, concerts, public appearances, Twitter and Facebook. Launching an aggressive social media campaign with advertising on Facebook and Twitter to encourage Americans to take the pledge and to share their pledges with their friends via social media. Educating the public using TV ads on the dangers of texting while driving that will run during high-profile events and teen-focused programs. Working to provide a toolkit of no-texting-while-driving information to every high school in the country. Challenging device makers and app developers to work with AT&T so that all devices include a pre-loaded, no-text-and-drive technology solution as soon as possible. Launching an online driving simulator at www.itcanwait.com in the coming weeks so that anyone with access to the Internet can experience the dangers of texting while driving. Bringing an in-car simulator to more than 200 locations before the end of this year. Enlisting others including law enforcement, educators, national retailers, consumer safety groups, legislators and the entire wireless industry to join the no-text-and-drive movement. Asking more than 1,000 of AT&Ts strategic and other major suppliers to encourage their employees to pledge not to text and drive. AT&T first began its It Can Wait campaign discouraging texting and driving in 2009. The website www.itcanwait.com provides an opportunity to take the dont text and drive pledge. It also offers a host of educational resources and information on the issue including a documentary featuring families impacted by texting and driving accidents that has been viewed more than 3 million times. For additional information on AT&Ts It Can Wait campaign, please visit www.att.com/itcanwait.
*AT&T products and services are provided or offered by subsidiaries and affiliates of AT&T Inc. under the AT&T brand and not by AT&T Inc.

Survey conducted by Beck Research on behalf of AT&T http://www.att.com/Common/about_us/txting_driving/att_teen_survey_executive.pdf. About AT&T AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) is a premier communications holding company and one of the most honored companies in the world. Its subsidiaries and affiliates AT&T operating companies are the providers of AT&T services in the United States and around the world. With a powerful array of network resources that includes the nations fastest mobile broadband network, AT&T is a leading provider of wireless, Wi-Fi, high speed Internet, voice and cloudbased services. A leader in mobile broadband and emerging 4G capabilities, AT&T also offers the best wireless coverage worldwide of any U.S. carrier, offering the most wireless phones that work in the most countries. It also offers advanced TV services under the AT&T U-verse and AT&T DIRECTV brands. The companys suite of IPbased business communications services is one of the most advanced in the world. Additional information about AT&T Inc. and the products and services provided by AT&T subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com. This AT&T news release and other announcements are available at http://www.att.com/newsroom and as part of an RSS feed at www.att.com/rss. Or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT. 2012 AT&T Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. 4G not available everywhere. AT&T, the AT&T logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of AT&T Intellectual Property and/or AT&T affiliated companies. All other marks contained herein are the property of their respective owners.