Missouri State Highway Patrol Kicks Off Statewide Anti-texting Campaign with Con-way Freight and Roush Fenway Racing
ST. LOUIS — July 16, 2010 — The Missouri State Highway Patrol (MSHP) today announced the launch of a statewide public safety campaign to encourage Missouri’s motorists to put down their phones and prevent traffic crashes from the dangerous distractions caused by texting while driving.
The campaign kicked off today at a press conference in St. Louis where the MSHP unveiled a new “No Texting” logo. The logo is being provided to the public as a window-cling decal that can be displayed on windows of automobiles, homes and businesses. Joining MSHP in the campaign are trucking company Con-way Freight, one of Missouri’s largest freight carriers, and Roush Fenway Racing, one of NASCAR’s top racing teams.
The MSHP’s new “No Texting” logo is also being featured in tomorrow’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway, prominently displayed on the hood of the No. 16 Con-way Freight Ford Fusion race car piloted by Colin Braun. Con-way Freight (NYSE: CNW) is the car’s sponsor for owner Roush Fenway Racing.
“Distracted drivers cause many of the traffic injuries and deaths we deal with on our roads today, and cell phone usage — particularly texting while driving — is especially dangerous and unsafe. These tragic consequences are easily preventable if drivers would simply put down their phones and focus on the road,” said Col. Ron Replogle, Missouri State Highway Patrol. “We’re joining forces with Con-way Freight and Roush Fenway Racing to spread the anti-texting message to all Missouri’s motorists and NASCAR fans, encouraging them to say no to texting and pay attention to the full-time job of driving whenever they’re behind the wheel.”
Col. Replogle added that the campaign complements Missouri’s current anti-texting law, which prohibits use of cell phones or texting devices for drivers 21 years of age and younger. He called on all Missouri drivers to honor the letter and the spirit of the law —regardless of age — and stop texting while driving to help make Missouri’s highways safer for all motorists. Missouri is one of 38 states in the nation to enact anti-texting legislation.
According to MSHP statistics, cell phone usage while driving contributed to more than 1,780 traffic crashes in Missouri in 2009, more than any other form of distracted driving. In the first half of 2010, there were 791 traffic crashes related to the use of cell phones behind the wheel resulting in eight fatalities and 239 injuries. Additionally, in this same time period, there were 17,535 crashes where distracted driving has been cited as a contributing cause.
Con-way Freight, a trucking industry leader that’s been at the forefront of efforts to improve highway safety, has had a texting ban in place for its 15,000 professional truck drivers for nearly two years.
“There are three major types of distractions — visual, manual and cognitive — and texting involves all three, which makes it the most dangerous of all,” said Bob Petrancosta, vice president of safety, Con-way Freight. “We’re committed to doing everything we can to help make America’s highways safer, and we hope this campaign with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Roush Fenway Racing will raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, and, potentially, save lives.”
The company recently announced the rollout of 1,300 new trucks equipped with an integrated suite of high-tech driver alert and truck control technologies, all designed to reduce accidents and further improve safety performance. The company’s safety focus and desire to bring the anti-texting message to more motorists across the U.S. provided the incentive to join with the MSHP and Roush Fenway Racing in the statewide campaign announced today.
Con-way Freight has nearly 500 Missouri-based employees at service centers in St. Louis, Rolla, Springfield, Fort Scott, Poplar Bluff and Columbia. The company operates a fleet of more than 200 tractors and 560 trailers in Missouri that handle over a million freight shipments annually for Missouri businesses, traveling nearly 30 million miles annually on the state’s highways.
About Missouri State Highway Patrol
The Missouri State Highway Patrol was created in 1931 by an act of the 56th Missouri General Assembly. By the 2000s the Missouri State Highway Patrol has grown to include more than 1,400 uniformed civilians and support staff, and 1,100 uniformed members. Since its inception, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has evolved from simply a highway patrolling force to a full-service, accredited law enforcement agency. While enforcing traffic laws and promoting safety on Missouri's approximately 33,000 miles of state-maintained highways remains the Patrol's primary responsibility, the Patrol has been tasked by the Governor and the legislature with many additional law enforcement duties including: motor vehicle inspection, commercial vehicle enforcement, driver's license examinations, criminal investigations, criminal laboratory analysis and research, public education, gaming enforcement, law enforcement training and more.
About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry’s leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of more than 300 service centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTLTM delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed® service; U.S. and Europe delivery for inbound and outbound international cargoes through an exclusive alliance with TNT; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports through TropicalDirectSM; and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP, ACE- and CSA-certified.
Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $4.3 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating eight motorsports teams — four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and four in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Colin Braun, Brian Ickler and Paul Menard. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log on to www.RoushFenway.com. Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.
The campaign kicked off today at a press conference in St. Louis where the MSHP unveiled a new “No Texting” logo. The logo is being provided to the public as a window-cling decal that can be displayed on windows of automobiles, homes and businesses. Joining MSHP in the campaign are trucking company Con-way Freight, one of Missouri’s largest freight carriers, and Roush Fenway Racing, one of NASCAR’s top racing teams.
The MSHP’s new “No Texting” logo is also being featured in tomorrow’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Gateway International Raceway, prominently displayed on the hood of the No. 16 Con-way Freight Ford Fusion race car piloted by Colin Braun. Con-way Freight (NYSE: CNW) is the car’s sponsor for owner Roush Fenway Racing.
“Distracted drivers cause many of the traffic injuries and deaths we deal with on our roads today, and cell phone usage — particularly texting while driving — is especially dangerous and unsafe. These tragic consequences are easily preventable if drivers would simply put down their phones and focus on the road,” said Col. Ron Replogle, Missouri State Highway Patrol. “We’re joining forces with Con-way Freight and Roush Fenway Racing to spread the anti-texting message to all Missouri’s motorists and NASCAR fans, encouraging them to say no to texting and pay attention to the full-time job of driving whenever they’re behind the wheel.”
Col. Replogle added that the campaign complements Missouri’s current anti-texting law, which prohibits use of cell phones or texting devices for drivers 21 years of age and younger. He called on all Missouri drivers to honor the letter and the spirit of the law —regardless of age — and stop texting while driving to help make Missouri’s highways safer for all motorists. Missouri is one of 38 states in the nation to enact anti-texting legislation.
According to MSHP statistics, cell phone usage while driving contributed to more than 1,780 traffic crashes in Missouri in 2009, more than any other form of distracted driving. In the first half of 2010, there were 791 traffic crashes related to the use of cell phones behind the wheel resulting in eight fatalities and 239 injuries. Additionally, in this same time period, there were 17,535 crashes where distracted driving has been cited as a contributing cause.
Con-way Freight, a trucking industry leader that’s been at the forefront of efforts to improve highway safety, has had a texting ban in place for its 15,000 professional truck drivers for nearly two years.
“There are three major types of distractions — visual, manual and cognitive — and texting involves all three, which makes it the most dangerous of all,” said Bob Petrancosta, vice president of safety, Con-way Freight. “We’re committed to doing everything we can to help make America’s highways safer, and we hope this campaign with the Missouri State Highway Patrol and Roush Fenway Racing will raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving, and, potentially, save lives.”
The company recently announced the rollout of 1,300 new trucks equipped with an integrated suite of high-tech driver alert and truck control technologies, all designed to reduce accidents and further improve safety performance. The company’s safety focus and desire to bring the anti-texting message to more motorists across the U.S. provided the incentive to join with the MSHP and Roush Fenway Racing in the statewide campaign announced today.
Con-way Freight has nearly 500 Missouri-based employees at service centers in St. Louis, Rolla, Springfield, Fort Scott, Poplar Bluff and Columbia. The company operates a fleet of more than 200 tractors and 560 trailers in Missouri that handle over a million freight shipments annually for Missouri businesses, traveling nearly 30 million miles annually on the state’s highways.
About Missouri State Highway Patrol
The Missouri State Highway Patrol was created in 1931 by an act of the 56th Missouri General Assembly. By the 2000s the Missouri State Highway Patrol has grown to include more than 1,400 uniformed civilians and support staff, and 1,100 uniformed members. Since its inception, the Missouri State Highway Patrol has evolved from simply a highway patrolling force to a full-service, accredited law enforcement agency. While enforcing traffic laws and promoting safety on Missouri's approximately 33,000 miles of state-maintained highways remains the Patrol's primary responsibility, the Patrol has been tasked by the Governor and the legislature with many additional law enforcement duties including: motor vehicle inspection, commercial vehicle enforcement, driver's license examinations, criminal investigations, criminal laboratory analysis and research, public education, gaming enforcement, law enforcement training and more.
About Con-way Freight
Con-way Freight is the industry’s leading less-than-truckload (LTL) freight transportation company, providing guaranteed, day-definite regional and transcontinental service with exception-free delivery, on-time service performance and faster transit times through a single, unified network of more than 300 service centers in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Con-way Freight offers LTL freight transportation across North America and through Global LTLTM delivery in the United States from around the world. Global solutions include international less-than-container (LCL) ocean shipments from Asia through its OceanGuaranteed® service; U.S. and Europe delivery for inbound and outbound international cargoes through an exclusive alliance with TNT; direct service to more than 30 Bahamian and Caribbean ports through TropicalDirectSM; and domestic offshore transportation to Alaska, Hawaii and Puerto Rico. Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Con-way Freight is a certified FAST highway carrier and is C-TPAT/PIP, ACE- and CSA-certified.
Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. (NYSE: CNW), a $4.3 billion diversified freight transportation and logistics services company. For more information, visit www.con-way.com/en/freight.
About Roush Fenway Racing
Roush Fenway Racing is NASCAR’s largest team operating eight motorsports teams — four in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series with drivers Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle, Carl Edwards and David Ragan; and four in the Nationwide Series with Edwards, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Colin Braun, Brian Ickler and Paul Menard. For more information on any of the Roush Fenway Racing teams, log on to www.RoushFenway.com. Become a fan of Roush Fenway Racing on Facebook by going to http://www.facebook.com/roushfenway and follow us on Twitter @roushfenway. For sponsorship inquiries please contact Robin Johnson at 704.720.4645.