Vodafone pays road tolls to discourage TXTing drivers

Media Release
18 October 2012
Vodafone pays road tolls to discourage TXTing drivers this long weekend

Motorists heading north of Auckland this long weekend may have their road toll paid by Vodafone, as the company encourages drivers not to TXT and drive.

Between 1and 5pm on Friday Vodafone staff at the State Highway 1 kiosk at BP Dairy Flat and the Dome Valley driver fatigue stop will pay the toll for the first 500 northbound cars who stop in*. Vodafone is also offering spot prizes and giveaways for motorists who visit.

In return, the company has a simple plea: don’t TXT and drive this long weekend. And to help avoid the urge to read or respond to a TXT while behind the wheel, Vodafone wants drivers to try its free, award winning service DriveSafe.

Endorsed by both the NZ Transport Agency and the AA, DriveSafe is free and works on all types of Vodafone mobile phones, simply by TXTing ‘DRIVE ON’ to 760. The service can be turned off by TXTing ‘DRIVE OFF’ to the same number. Anyone TXTing the driver during this time will receive the message “I’m driving right now. I’ll reply your TXT as soon as it is safe to do so. Vodafone DriveSafe.”

Vodafone’s General Manager of Products, Greg McAlister says “We all know that TXTing and driving is a potentially lethal combination yet many people still find it hard to resist the urge to respond to a TXT as soon as it comes in. DriveSafe removes that urge, it’s free and simple to use for all Vodafone customers. We want all drivers to give it a go this long weekend to keep our roads safe.”

DriveSafe is Vodafone’s third innovation that gives customers control over who contacts them and how. It follows Vodafone Blacklist which allows customers to bar malicious calls and TXTs and Vodafone Guardian, an Android app which enables parents to control functionality on their children’s smartphones.

Vodafone New Zealand and DriveSafe won the User Safety Innovation category at the Global Telecoms Awards in London earlier this year.

*Road toll payment only available for casual users heading north who register with Vodafone staff at one of the two locations

ENDS

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