Ryan Beatty and Jasmine Villegas, ambassadors for AT&T’s It Can Wait campaign, joined high school students participating in the Youth in Government program at the Weingart East Los Angeles YMCA who collected 1,600 pledges not to text and drive from fellow teens as part of AT&T’s national Don’t Text & Drive Pledge Day.

The students presented the pledges to AT&T Vice President and Los Angeles General Manager Jace Barbin at the YMCA today.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and the Los Angeles City Council both declared September 19, as Don’t Text & Drive Day and urged all their constituents to take the pledge not to text and drive at www.itcanwait.com.

“A text can wait. This message can’t,” said Barbin. “In the United States, someone is killed or injured once every five minutes on average in a crash that happens while a driver is texting and driving.1”

“It’s great to see high school students tackling this dangerous practice that puts millions of Americans at risk,” said Beatty. “Driving a car is a big responsibility. You are responsible for others around you as well as your own safety. “

Students at the event also tried out AT&T’s new online simulator on the www.itcanwait.com website that dramatically demonstrates what devastation can occur in just a couple of seconds of not looking at the road.

Noting that 41 percent of teens responded to an AT&T survey that they were afraid to speak up when riding with a driver who was texting, Barbin encouraged the students to be “the peer that pressures to do the right thing.” He also suggested that they install a free AT&T Drive Mode anti-texting and driving mobile app on their phones that lets others know when they are driving and unable to respond.

“It’s an easy solution that everyone should adopt because no text is worth a life,” Barbin concluded.

The AT&T “It Can Wait” campaign is raising awareness of the dangers of texting while driving – urging all to take the pledge by going to www.itcanwait.com. The Weingart East LA YMCA Youth & Government program is part of a statewide initiative to involve students in California state issues culminating in a five-day Model Legislature and Court program in Sacramento where the youth “take over” state government.