OVER A MILLION "SMA4RT" DRIVERS AND PASSENGERS HAVE LEARNT HOW TO USE PHONES WISELY WHILE DRIVING_THE CAMPAIGN "BE #SMA4RT, DRIVE SAFELY!" HAS COME TO AN END

Over a million* „smA4rt” drivers and passengers from Poland and abroad have learnt how to use mobile phones wisely and in accordance with the Traffic Code while driving – Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. (SAM S.A.) and Malopolskie Voivodship Police Headquarters summarise the educational campaign "Be #smA4rt, drive safely!".

For the last month, the concessionaire of the A4 Katowice-Krakow motorway with officers of the Motorway Police in Krakow have educated drivers about safe use of mobile phones. These actions took place on the concession stretch of the A4 motorway, on the Internet and on the radio.

As part of the action "Be #smA4rt, drive safely!" police officers stopping cars for routine checks on the A4 Katowice-Krakow handed nearly 1000 booklets to drivers and passengers. Drivers could learn what kinds of behaviour concerning using a phone while driving increase their safety, like e.g. using hands-free systems or mounting phones in special holders. They could also gain knowledge about what they should avoid, like e.g. writing text messages while driving or putting earpieces of a hands-free system on both ears. Booklets also contained advice for passengers, whose behaviour also influences the safety of drivers.

– Smartphones make it possible to be "online" anywhere, including also... the driver's seat. The effect of this widespread phenomenon may be lack of concentration of drivers on the road, what influences safety of drivers and other road users. We know all too well that prevention is better than cure so police officers prefer to educate drivers and thus influence their behaviour than give them tickets. We believe that these actions, that are more pleasant for us and for drivers, will be more effective – says major Krzysztof Lis, Chief of the Motorway Police in Krakow.

On toll plazas on the A4 Katowice-Krakow drivers also received leaflets with selected tips how to use phones safely while driving and how to actively take part in the action. The campaign has a dedicated website at: www.badzsmart.pl, where cybernauts can watch a film promoting the campaign and read survey results, tips for drivers and passengers as well as interesting information about using mobile phones while driving, also in other countries.

– The campaign "Be #smA4rt, drive safely!" mostly engaged young drivers, i.e. the group that in accordance with survey results** uses phones while driving in a reckless way the most often. Knowing that fines are not effective in this case (only one per cent of drivers stopped using smartphones while driving after being fined for it), we have reached a conclusion that the most effective way of reaching irresponsible drivers and making them change their ways will be requests of their friends and relations, whom we invited to take part in the campaign – says Rafał Czechowski, the spokesperson for SAM S.A.

As part of the campaign, cybernauts encouraged drivers to use phones wisely while driving. They prepared short messages about responsible use of phones, and then, with a special application they sent messages to their friends and relations, asking them to drive safely. The messages that were sent the most often were: "Someone is rather waiting for you, not for your message” and "I prefer to hear 'I love you' at home and not on the phone”.

"Be #smA4rt, drive safely!" is another educational campaign devoted to the safety of drivers, carried out by SAM S.A. In 2013 the campaign "A+B=Absolutnie Bezpieczni” (Absolutely safe) was organised, that promoted proper behaviour on the road among car drivers and bikers as co-users of roads. In 2011 the company made drivers sensitive to threats caused by fatigue behind the wheel, with the slogan "It's not a dream, you are driving”. In 2010 the concessionaire ran the action "Record safe with the A4 Katowice-Krakow”, with its slogan emphasising the record breaking statistics: there were no fatal accidents on the concession stretch of the A4 for almost 20 months (from the beginning of 2010 till August 2011). Earlier, in 2005-2007 the concessionaire carried out the campaign called “Way of life”.

The concessionaire encouraged people to take part in the campaign at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5T-_Qwnd9M&list=UUp66cTyN-JU0GijuwzSp-rg

* The number of people who visited the campaign's website "Be #smA4rt, drive safely!", watched the video and saw details of the campaign and the number of people who received materials devoted to the campaign and published on the A4 Katowice-Krakow's Facebook profile.

**On the basis of a nationwide PBS survey conducted in September 2014.

###

About SAM S.A.

Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. manages the 60-kilometre long stretch of the A4 motorway between Katowice and Krakow. It is the first fully functional road of this kind in Poland, built within the framework of public-private partnership as a brownfield investment – modernisation of the road built in the 1970s and 1980s. Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. has held the concession for its adaptation to the requirements of a toll motorway and operation since 1997. This required numerous investments. All investment projects, including current maintenance of the road, are financed from tolls for using the concession stretch and from loans obtained from an international bank consortium. Unlike other concessions for managing toll motorways, the project run by Stalexport Autostrada Małopolska S.A. does not burden the state budget in any way. The company does not benefit from any State Treasury subsidies or guarantees.

For further information please contact:

Rafał Czechowski

Spokesperson for SAM S.A.

e-mail: [email protected]

tel. 601063200