Detective Shawn Kelley and Corporal Rebecca Ellison of the Virginia Commonwealth University (“VCU”) Police Department have started a campaign against texting while driving that is catching fire across the country. “Text Later Live Longer”, TL3 for short, is a bumper sticker program that lets other motorists know that texting behind the wheel is dangerous for everyone. In one month, their Facebook page[1] has received over 3,257 “Likes” and they have distributed 1,250 bumper stickers to residents of all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and 6 countries internationally.
People who visit the TL3 Facebook page and “Like” it or request a sticker on the message board receive a TL3 bumper sticker for free. Upon request, driver’s education teachers and school board members across the country are receiving large quantities of stickers to hand out to their students in an effort to raise collective awareness that distracted driving can be fatal. As Detective Kelley explains, “the goal of TL3 bumper stickers is to send a message to other motorists that texting while driving endangers everyone on the road and is not acceptable.”
After years of crash investigation in the Richmond area, Detective Kelley has seen first hand the aftermath of texting while driving accidents in Richmond. As a bicycle patrol officer, he has been run off the road 5 times by inattentive motorists texting behind the wheel. The TL3 program is designed to combat behavior which, according to a recent study, contributes to 80 percent of traffic accidents on the I-95 corridor in Virginia.[2]
Allen and Allen is proud to support the TL3 campaign and its goal to combat distracted driving in Virginia.
About the Author: Chris Toepp is a Fredericksburg, VA personal injury lawyer dedicated to helping people who have been injured by the negligence of others. He is experienced in handling personal injury cases involving car crashes. Chris works in the Fredericksburg, Virginia office of Allen & Allen and serves clients across Northern Virginia and Central Virginia.
[1] See website at: https://www.facebook.com/VCUTLcubed.
[2] A recent NBC news report details the statistics behind texting while driving on Virginia’s busiest highway; see full report at: http://www.nbcwashington.com/news/local/Nearly-1-in-5-Drivers-on-I-95-Admit-to-Texting-While-Driving-AAA-Survey-Says-207363371.html .
