[Michelle]

Media Release
1 February 2012

Vodafone pushes DriveSafe out onto the road

Help is at hand for drivers battling the urge to TXT and drive this long weekend, thanks to a new service from Vodafone. Available to all Vodafone customers free of charge, DriveSafe will send an automated reply to any TXT message received, letting the sender know that the driver is on the road and unable to respond.

Although illegal for more than two years, texting while driving is still a major issue, topping the New Zealand AA’s list of top 10 driver distractions released last week. A recent University of Otago study found 54% of drivers on a restricted licence admitted to texting while driving occasionally or more often.

Endorsed by both the NZ Transport Agency and the AA, DriveSafe is activated by TXTing ‘DRIVE ON’ to 760. The service is then 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 read your TXT as soon as it is safe to do so. Vodafone DriveSafe.”

Vodafone’s Director of Sales Grant Hopkins says DriveSafe is aimed at helping New Zealanders use their mobiles safely.

“Vodafone Drive Safe is designed to take the pressure off when you’re driving and you get a TXT message. It lets the sender know that you can’t reply immediately, without you needing to take your eye off the road. We’re pleased to be able to bring innovations like this to New Zealand and hope it will help drivers think carefully about their actions to reduce the road toll.”

Hopkins says that all Vodafone sales staff who are regularly on the road are now using Vodafone DriveSafe.

Toll New Zealand’s sales staff piloted Vodafone DriveSafe over the Christmas period, with positive results. Group IT Manager, Allister Lowe, says almost all the 40 triallists said the service removed the urge to respond to TXT messages immediately and found it especially useful for driving long distances.

Toll National Health & Safety Manager, Tim Kelly, says Vodafone DriveSafe is incredibly easy to use and it gives people an option to immediately advise their contacts that they can’t respond. “The DriveSafe product supports Toll’s Safe Driving Policy by allowing drivers to confidently turn their phones off while operating a vehicle and automatically sending a formal message to the texter that they are operating a motor vehicle and will return their message at their next safest convenience.”

AA Motoring Affairs General Manager Mike Noon welcomes the introduction of Vodafone DriveSafe. “One of the worst things about texting and driving is that drivers know they shouldn’t do it but many cases just can’t seem to stop themselves when they hear a message arrive.

“Vodafone DriveSafe is a simple tool that can help drivers to leave the phone alone. The driver can relax knowing the person who texted them has been sent a reply and, as a bonus, it is spreading the message that texting and driving are a potentially lethal mix.

“Any distraction is dangerous when driving but texting is especially bad because not only is your mind focusing on the message but your eyes are off the road and at least one of your hands isn’t on the wheel either.”

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.

-ENDS-

For more information please contact:

Vodafone New Zealand Media Relations
0800 VF MEDIA
vodafone.media@vodafone.com

Mike Noon
General Manager Motoring Affairs
NZ Automobile Association
04 931 9984
mnoon@aa.co.nz