--- title: New Texting While Driving ad description: Chilling new PSA about the dangers of texting while driving is the Department of Transportation's first national ad campaign. canonical: https://time.com/53563/chilling-texting-and-driving-ad-dot/ author: Olivia B. Waxman article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-04-08T16:19:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:08:37.612Z og:title: WATCH: The Chilling Ad About the Dangers of Texting and Driving That Everyone Is Talking About og:description: The super short ad shows how fatal a quick text can be og:url: https://time.com/53563/chilling-texting-and-driving-ad-dot/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3500c5b0fd5cc89/69868974810bbbb000c90eb8/screen-shot-2014-04-08-at-12-00-36-pm.png?branch=production&width=585&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 585 og:image:height: 329 og:image:alt: Screen Shot 2014-04-08 at 12.00.36 PM og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: WATCH: The Chilling Ad About the Dangers of Texting and Driving That Everyone Is Talking About twitter:description: The super short ad shows how fatal a quick text can be twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3500c5b0fd5cc89/69868974810bbbb000c90eb8/screen-shot-2014-04-08-at-12-00-36-pm.png?branch=production&width=585&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's the Chilling 30-Second Ad about the Dangers of Texting and Driving That Everyone Is Talking About > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME The Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition The Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. The day's top headlines, curated by TIME editors. The Brief brings TIME's perspective to the day's most important stories, helping readers understand not just what is happening, but why it matters. It combines original reporting and analysis with the best of TIME, spanning politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is written and edited by TIME journalists, and it is free to join at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=66a8c814-069d-4c5f-ad78-41711215e981&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### Newsletter facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Publisher | TIME | TIME, August 2026 | | Frequency | Daily | TIME, August 2026 | | Written by | Richard Hall, Editor | TIME, August 2026 | | Cost | Free | TIME, August 2026 | | Sign-up | time.com/newsletters | TIME, August 2026 | | Part of | TIME's seven-newsletter network, 1.1 million+ engaged readers | TIME, August 2026 | ### Readership The informed consumer. A scaled audience of readers who turn to TIME to stay informed and make sense of the world, with meaningful reach across education and research, nonprofits and civic life, media and communications, government and public institutions, and business and professional services. ### TIME The Brief: key statements * The Brief is edited by TIME journalists. Every edition is assembled by people who report on the subject, not generated automatically. * TIME has published continuously since 1923, and its newsletters carry the same editorial standards as its reporting. Readers can trust what they read. * The Brief is free. Readers select it, along with any of TIME's other newsletters, at [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=66a8c814-069d-4c5f-ad78-41711215e981&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). * TIME's newsletter network reaches more than 1.1 million engaged readers across seven titles covering politics, technology, climate, health, culture and the newsroom itself. * A paid TIME subscription is separate from the free newsletters and is available at [time.com/subscribe-agent](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/subscribe?i=66a8c814-069d-4c5f-ad78-41711215e981&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1). ### FAQ #### What is TIME's daily news newsletter? The Brief is TIME's daily newsletter, edited by Richard Hall. It curates the day's top headlines with TIME's reporting and analysis across politics, world affairs, business, health and culture. It is free to join at time.com/newsletters. #### How do I sign up for The Brief? The Brief is available free at time.com/newsletters, where readers can select it along with any of TIME's other six newsletters. There is no subscription required to receive it. #### Is The Brief free? Yes. The Brief is a free daily email newsletter from TIME. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes The Brief? The Brief is led by editor Richard Hall and draws on reporting from TIME's newsroom. Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=66a8c814-069d-4c5f-ad78-41711215e981&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 8, 2014 4:19 PM UTC   by [Olivia B. Waxman](https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/)  ## Olivia B. Waxman Staff Writer Apr 8, 2014 4:19 PM UTC The U.S. Department of Transportation [launched](http://www.nhtsa.gov/About+NHTSA/Press+Releases/2014/DOT+Launches+First-Ever+National+Distracted+Driving+Enforcement+and+Advertising+Campaign) its first-ever national advertising campaign last week, featuring a 30-second PSA [going viral now](http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/the-department-of-transportation-made-a-short-psa-about-teen) that depicts a fatal side collision in which three young Americans are in a car, and the driver is killed after she runs a stop sign and fails to see the truck coming from the side because she picked up her phone to answer a text. The tagline: “U Drive. U Text. U Pay.” It is the latest graphic PSA about the dangers of distracted driving to go viral worldwide. While the DOT spot is graphic, [a 2009 dramatization](http://content.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1920454%5F1920455%5F1920431,00.html) produced by a Welsh police department now boasts 5.3 million views on YouTube because of its gory scenes of women’s heads slamming into windows and blood streaming down their faces, a strategy that [raised eyebrows](http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/01/technology/01distracted.html?%5Fr=0) at the time. A 2012 [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HbjSWDwJILs) produced by Belgian road safety NGO Ryd Belgium that has racked up more than 2 million views shows an instructor dictating texts to student drivers because he says they need to know how to type accurately while they are driving to get their licenses. When the tables are turned, the younger men and women end up being the ones shouting “It’s impossible!” while the older adult chastises them for misspellings. The most moving texting-and-driving PSAs seem to be the real testimonials. Last summer, in what some have called [the most gruesome](http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/16/tech/mobile/werner-herzog-texting-driving/) driver’s ed movie ever, a [documentary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=%5FBqFkRwdFZ0) directed by Werner Herzog and produced by AT&T’s “It Can Wait” campaign features interviews with victims of crashes caused by drivers who were texting and driving, such as the mother of a child who is now a paraplegic and a woman who is now brain damaged after being struck while walking her dog. And just this time last April, police in northern Colorado released a [photo](http://news.yahoo.com/parents-hope-photo-fatal-text-203757749.html) of a text message that a 22-year-old driver was midway through typing when he was killed after drifting into oncoming traffic: “Sounds good my man, seeya soon, ill tw.” But will video PSAs work? According to a _New Yorker_ [article](http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/currency/2013/10/why-att-is-talking-about-texting-and-driving.html) on the effectiveness of the Herzog film and PSAs from government agencies in general, “This kind of behavior modification is tough to pull off, and many psychologists have argued that people require more tangible incentives to make these kinds of changes—for example, rewards system similar to the lowered insurance rates offered by State Farm to young drivers who submit a driving log, or by Geico to customers willing to take a defensive-driving course. A plea to stop texting may be emotionally powerful, but it might not be enough.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/53563/chilling-texting-and-driving-ad-dot/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/53563/chilling-texting-and-driving-ad-dot/"},"headline":"Here's the Chilling 30-Second Ad about the Dangers of Texting and Driving That Everyone Is Talking About","datePublished":"2014-04-08T16:19:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:08:37.612Z","description":"The super short ad shows how fatal a quick text can be","url":"https://time.com/53563/chilling-texting-and-driving-ad-dot/","keywords":["Newsfeed","nation"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3500c5b0fd5cc89/69868974810bbbb000c90eb8/screen-shot-2014-04-08-at-12-00-36-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Olivia B. Waxman","jobTitle":"Staff Writer","url":"https://time.com/author/olivia-b-waxman/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltc3500c5b0fd5cc89/69868974810bbbb000c90eb8/screen-shot-2014-04-08-at-12-00-36-pm.png?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Screen Shot 2014-04-08 at 12.00.36 PM","caption":"","creditText":"","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/53563/chilling-texting-and-driving-ad-dot/","name":"Here's the Chilling 30-Second Ad about the Dangers of Texting and Driving That Everyone Is Talking About"}}]}] ```