8:00 am, April 4, 2014
A SHROPSHIRE-based chain of car dealerships is on a mission to stop drivers texting from behind the wheel.
JT Hughes has been encouraging drivers to paint their thumbnails green as a reminder to resist the temptation to reach for their phones while driving.
‘If a driver forgets and instinctively reaches for their mobile whilst driving, the green thumbnail will serve as a warning to stop, put down the phone and concentrate on what he or she should be doing behind the wheel,’ explained JT Hughes’ sales director Paul Tench.
JT Hughes was motivated by Steve Babcock, from Colorado, who invented the technique after losing his uncle in a fatal texting and driving accident. Babcock admitted he was a serial ‘distracted driver’ and was inspired by his daughter who tied a piece of string around her finger to remind her to take something to school.
When JT Hughes saw this they wanted to spread this message to drivers in the local area with the aim of reducing the climbing numbers caught ‘driving distracted’.
JT Hughes, a Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Mitsubishi franchise holder, is donating £100 to charities nominated by each of the first few people who paint their thumbnails green and post a photograph on the company’s Facebook page.
Tench went on to say: ‘Painting your thumbnail green has the additional benefit of prompting conversations with friends and colleagues so that the message will spread rapidly, encouraging more people to take part.’
