Miami-Dade County Fairgoers Try Out Texting and Driving Simulator

“I did OK until I crashed,” Jahmarr Smith said

Thinking about texting while driving? Well, #itcanwait. That’s the message that AT&T is sending out to all Miami-Dade County Fairgoers.

“Our campaign is a campaign to create awareness so that people will stop texting and driving,” said Andrea Villacicencio of AT&T.

A texting and driving simulator attracted dozens of people to the booth to give TWD a shot. Many like Jahmarr Smith couldn’t make it through with crashing or getting a ticket.

“I did OK until I crashed,” he said. “It’s kinda hard to text and drive, I don’t know how a lot of people do it, but I do see a lot of people do it on the (interstate) doing it.”

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With more than 100 thrilling rides at the fair, it was clear to see that some people couldn’t distinguish the difference between the rides and the lesson from the simulator.

Fair organizers said that 57,000 people alone came to the fair just on Thursday, and that the simulator is a simple reminder of why all of those text messages can wait.

“One accident could affect not only the attendance of the fair but somebody’s life, which is more important right now,” said Nancy Chevres, the fair’s vice president of marketing and sales. “And this message is just crucial, it’s really important, and it spoke very loudly to us, so hopefully everybody will take it seriously.”

VIDEO: Resisting the Urge to Text While Driving

Statistics show that those who send text messages while driving are 23 times more likely to be in a crash.

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