Gardner White Furniture, WXYZ-TV-Detroit, The Oprah Show Partnering to Help End Distracted Driving

DETROIT, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Gardner White Furniture, Warren, Michigan (http://gardner-white.com) has teamed up with WXYZ-TV (Channel 7 in Detroit) to further Oprah Winfrey's initiative against Distracted Driving.

On Saturday, February 6, at 7pm, Gardner-White will sponsor Channel 7's re-broadcast of Oprah's No Phone Zone Show (originally aired on Monday, January 18, 2010). The re-broadcast will reach viewers in Wayne, Oakland, Macomb, Washtenaw, Livingston, Monroe, Lapeer, St. Clair and Sanilac Counties.

Oprah's No Phone Zone Show has helped spark a nationwide movement against distracted Driving. Bob Sliva, Channel 7 Vice President and General Manager commented that, "distracted driving is a dangerous, life-threatening practice that has become all too commonplace.  That's why we are proud to have joined forces with The Oprah Winfrey Show and Gardner White Furniture to address this problem and the significance of the No Phone Zone pledge to our viewers."

In 2008, distracted driving caused 16% of all highway fatalities and over 515,000 accidents. 19 states and the District of Columbia now have laws preventing texting while driving and 23 more are considering them. Six states and the District of Columbia now ban handheld cell phones while driving.

Ray LaHood, US Secretary of Transportation has made banning texting one of the main priorities of his department. Recently, the DOT launched the federal site http://distraction.gov as a resource for concerned citizens.

Following the re-broadcast, viewers will be asked to take Oprah's NO-Phone Zone Pledge at Gardner-White Stores, where they can register to win a Big Picture Furniture Package, as well as tickets to an Oprah taping in her Chicago Studio.

Gardner White is also using social media to get local residents to take the "pledge." Leslie Carothers, of the Kaleidoscope Partnership, comments that, "The interaction of a Broadcast Television Network, a Local Business leader, and the Social Media communities is an ideal way to get the word out. Parents connected to our communities are now reaching out to their own communities for participation. Distracted Driving affects everyone."

Carothers, who has been building Communities for Gardner-White on Twitter and Facebook further comments that Ray LaHood himself has responded to Gardner-White Twitter messages on the subject.

Barb Tronstein, owner of Gardner White, says, "We want to use our media presence to help save lives. We are grateful to Channel 7 and Oprah Winfrey for allowing us to help. Leslie has done a great job online. If you look on our Facebook page http://facebook.com/GardnerWhiteFurniture you will see photos of distracted driving accidents. The larger tragedy is that these accidents are 100% preventable."

SOURCE Gardner White Furniture