ADOT and GEICO encourage motorists to use Safe Phone Zones

PHOENIX – With Memorial Day weekend kicking off the summer travel season, don’t make the potentially fatal mistake of driving while texting, surfing the web, using apps and engaging in other distractions on your smartphone or tablet.

The Arizona Department of Transportation and GEICO are teaming up to encourage drivers to use rest areas as Safe Phone Zones. GEICO-branded signs along highways call attention to ADOT rest areas as places to safely use mobile devices.

“Taking your attention off the road for even a second can have tragic consequences for you, those riding with you and people in other vehicles,” ADOT Director John Halikowski said. “Make the safe choice by getting safely off the highway before using your mobile device.”

GEICO has similar partnerships with Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, Virginia and Texas.

“We're proud of the longstanding safety partnership we have formed with the Arizona Department of Transportation,” said Martha Furnas, GEICO regional vice president. “We continue to urge drivers to put down their phones while behind the wheel. It's important for us to offer them alternatives like Safe Phone Zones where they can get connected out of harm's way.”

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, crashes in which distraction was a factor claimed 3,450 lives around the country in 2016. At any given moment in the United States, the agency says, 660,000 drivers are manipulating electronic devices while driving.

More facts and tips on ways to avoid distracted driving are available at SafePhoneZone.com as well as at Geico.com/More.

For more information about the Safe Phone Zones partnership, visit azdot.gov/SafePhoneZone.

To join the conversation on social media, use #GEICOSafePhoneZone.