Aimed at raising awareness on the risks of texting and driving, and specifically targeted to young people, ACI’s initiative has successfully reached 7.5 million people aged between 18 and 29.

The campaign’s video stars Francesco Mandelli, one of the best known and loved actors among young Italians, and has reached over 17 000 000 people through Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter and other platforms.

The video’s viral success confirms the success of ACI’s approach in terms of language and methods used with dozens of bloggers, celebrities and representatives of Italian institutions deciding to share the video or post a photo with the campaign’s official T-shirt.

The T-shirt bears a hashtag that is made by emoji only and the meaning of which can be easily understood all over the world. By simply downloading the graphic elements through the website, everyone can get involved and create her/his own t-shirt.

“Faced with an increase in the number of fatal accidents – largely linked to driver distraction, often by mobile phones – we had a duty to intervene immediately and effectively”, said ACI President Angelo Sticchi Damiani.

Mr Sticchi Damiani also stated: “we believe to have made a significant contribution to raise awareness among young people on the risks of using mobile phones while driving. The success of our campaign encourages us to continue unabated to keep the focus of all road users on safety”.

Ludovico Fois, an External Relations and Institutional Affairs Consultant for ACI, declared: “the choice of forcing young people to think carefully by using their own language and means of communication has been a winning strategy. We wanted them to be actively involved because we believed this was essential to effectively convey the message of the dangers of texting and driving. The figures tell us we have succeeded.”

ACI launched the campaign between July and August, when traffic on the Italian roads increases considerably, due to the summer holidays.

Find out more about the campaign here.