Scottsdale man selling "Stop Texting and JUST Drive" signs
Can "Stop Texting and JUST Drive" get as big as "Baby on Board?"
A Scottsdale businessman certainly hopes so.
Dan Brasch, of Desert Promotions in Scottsdale, has created a "Stop Texting and JUST Drive" placard similar in size and coloring to the once nearly ubiquitous "Baby on Board" signs from the mid-1980's.
The black letters are set on a yellow square that motorists can hang on their car windows.
When it comes to texting and driving, Brasch said, "it's not realistic to rely on a law. People in traffic don't see newspaper or web page campaigns."
What they see, Brasch said, is other cars.
After talking with his son, who is in Wisconsin law enforcement, about the dangers of texting and driving, Brasch came up with the idea for the placard.
"People hung the 'Baby on Board' signs on their cars in hopes that drivers around that car would drive more carefully," Brasch said. "It just went gangbusters."
He is hoping his signs will have the same impact.
The "Baby on Board" craze was so popular that even motorists without babies hung the signs, hoping for a safer driving experience.
Parodies followed, with sayings like, "Baby I'm Bored", "Pit Bull on board", and "Mother-In-Law in Trunk."
No Arizona driver-texting ban
Arizona is one of seven states without an all-driver texting ban. In April, the Department of Public Safety announced a renewed emphasis on distracted driving – eating, rubbernecking, or texting or using a cellphone.
According to DPS, distracted driving caused 1,200 crashes in Arizona during a four-month review period, about 11 percent of all crashes. During the same period, DPS officers pulled over more than 2,200 drivers for cell phone use.
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said there's no evidence that texting bans reduce crashes, noting that overall accidents are declining even as texting while driving increases.
Brasch said his signs are meant to be reminders. "Maybe they'll think twice about (texting and driving)," he said.
$2.99 a piece
The signs retail for $2.99, Brasch said. Shoppers can find them at about five Hallmark stores in Scottsdale, Phoenix and Gilbert, several car washes, and at area Paul's Ace Hardware stores.
Brasch said he has spoken with Walgreen's, and it appears likely the state's nearly 260 stores will soon begin selling the "Stop Texting, JUST Drive" signs.
Since he began offering them for sale April 21, he has sold between 8,000 and 10,000 in as many as 35 states, he said.
Brasch and his wife, who have been in Scottsdale for 34 years, started Desert Promotions 26 years ago.
The company also markets other creations, including a $1 million bill and a 1 ½-inch exercise block. The block invites users to put it on the floor and walk twice around it, and says you have now walked around the block two times.