Atlanta dealership group fights distracted driving

Driving while distracted can have deadly consequences.

It's a simple yet powerful message that Jim Ellis Automotive Group is trying to get its customers and the metropolitan Atlanta community to take to heart when they get behind the wheel.

The dealership group has launched a public service campaign to stamp out distracted driving, said Wes Ellis, vice president of Jim Ellis Automotive Group.

The campaign, known as the "Jim Ellis Pledge to Drive Safe," began in late November and runs indefinitely. By Jan. 31, almost 500 people had signed the pledge, according to the tally at stopdistracteddriving.com. Those who sign the pledge promise to keep their "eyes on the road," "hands on the wheel" and "mind on the drive ahead."

The effort is more than just catchy phrases. The dealership group presented a check for $20,050 — $50 for each pledge signed in December — to the National Safety Council on Jan. 23. The dealership doesn't know a lot about the people who pledge because only names and email addresses are required.

The National Safety Council is a nonprofit organization dedicated to stopping preventable deaths at work, home, in the community, and on the road through leadership, research, education and advocacy. It lists texting, talking on the phone, eating, drinking and adjusting entertainment systems among common driver distractions.

Ellis isn't surprised that people are serious about ending distracted driving.

"I'd say 95 percent of people know somebody that has been in a serious accident due to somebody not paying attention, whether it was them or the other driver," said Ellis, 37. "Unfortunately, I've known several. I think everybody understands the importance, the relevance of it."

The 16-dealership, 12-brand group was founded in 1971 by Jim Ellis, who is the group's chairman and Wes Ellis' grandfather. Jimmy Ellis, the group's CEO, is the son of the founder and Wes Ellis' father. Ellis would not disclose the group's unit sales.

The pledge campaign is the brainchild of Jimmy Ellis, who was deeply moved by two deadly, highly publicized auto accidents last spring in the Atlanta area involving teen drivers, said Wes Ellis.

That, coupled with the realization that three teenage relatives — a grand-niece who just turned 17, a nephew just shy of his 16th birthday and a granddaughter almost 14 — are on the verge of becoming drivers, made the effort personal for his father, Ellis said.

Jimmy Ellis "thought since automobiles are a product we're selling, we should take responsibility for educating consumers about the dangers of the products if they are not used correctly," said Wes Ellis. "Staying focused and not being distracted is part of using it correctly."

Jimmy Ellis' idea came to fruition when the dealership's in-house ad agency crafted it into public service messages, Ellis said. The stopdistracteddriving.com site was created so people could sign the pledge online. It features a photo of a young man in a vehicle with one hand on the steering wheel and a cellphone in the other. The young man's facial expression makes it hard to determine if he's looking at the road or at the phone.

A 60-second radio spot that aired on local stations in December and was voiced by Jimmy Ellis urged listeners "to partner with our organization by taking the Jim Ellis Pledge to Drive Safe." The ad was emailed to the group's employees to motivate them to spread the message to customers, relatives and friends.

The message was prominently displayed on individual dealership Facebook pages and dealership websites.

Stopdistracteddriving.com and "Pledge to drive safe" will be either embedded or used as tag lines in the dealership group's TV ad campaign scheduled for May, Ellis said.

Retractable 80- by 30-inch banners on stands, plus window stickers and cupholder coasters touting the pledge are to be in Jim Ellis dealerships in February.

Ellis said coasters will be placed in the cupholders of every new and used vehicle purchased and a 2-inch-square window sticker will be placed in the top left-hand corner of windshields "just as reminders" to drive safe whether the buyer signed the pledge or not.

The banners will be placed in dealership showrooms and waiting rooms and near cashiers in service departments. Ellis said service customers are not told about the campaign but can sign pledges or get coasters and window stickers if they ask to do so.

He adds: "It's not something our service consultants would naturally bring up, whereas if somebody is buying a car, we can incorporate that into the delivery process."