• by Erik Sass  @eriksass1, November 27, 2011

Accidents resulting from distracted driving caused the deaths of 5,474 Americans in 2009, as well as 448,000 injuries, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. The fatalities represent 15.2% of the total motor vehicle-related deaths tallied by NHTSA that year.

Further, of the fatal incidents resulting from distraction, 18% involved cell phones. In an effort to combat this trend, the U.S. Department of Transportation has partnered with gas station advertiser Outcast to run public service announcements discouraging texting while driving.

The 30-second spot, bearing the tagline “OMG!”, features teenagers talking and texting while driving and crashing into giant text slang words, such as OMG and LOL.

The spots will run on 12,000 digital screens and should reach 24 million drivers at the gas pump, according to Outcast, as part of a larger campaign reminding drivers that “One Text Or Call Could Wreck It All,” which is set to launch on Nov. 29.

The spots will run at gas stations located in the top 50 DMAs nationwide. The DOT and NHTSA are running PSAs across a number of platforms, including TV, radio, outdoor advertising and online banner ads, as well as a new Web site dedicated to combating distracted driving.

A second spot, “Stop the Texts, Stop the Wrecks,” targeting 18-to-24-year-olds, was created pro bono by The Concept Farm in collaboration with states' attorneys general and the Ad Council. Overall, about one-quarter of the production budget for the campaign was devoted to out-of-home platforms, including almost 800 billboards nationwide.