Volkswagen wants to make one thing clear: It does not want you to text and drive. It’s a message the German car manufacturer wanted to hit close to home when it shocked a group of unsuspecting moviegoers with a jolting wakeup call.

In a PSA called, “Eyes On the Road,” Volkswagen shocked viewers with the raw, unadulterated truth about the risks of texting and driving. As a group of people file into a Hong Kong theater to watch a movie, what looks like a car commercial begins to play on the movie screen. The audience watches as the person in the ad starts the engine, turns up the radio volume and begins to drive down a long, empty road.

Meanwhile, a location-based broadcaster sends a text message to everybody’s phones simultaneously, initiating a symphony of ringtones and vibrations. As expected, people pull out their phones and take their eyes of the screen for just a few seconds before their attention is jolted back with an earth-shattering crash.

It’s estimated that drivers take their eyes off the road for an average of five seconds while texting, reports Distraction.gov. That’s enough time to cover the length of a football field, blindfolded, when traveling at 55 mph. Ten percent of all drivers younger than 20 involved in fatal crashes were reported to be distracted at the time of the crash.

Foram Mehta

Foram is a journalist by day and photographer/foodie/bookworm by night. She’s a die-hard Texan living and exploring the streets of the Big Apple just hoping to run into the likes of Kristen Wiig or Anderson Cooper. When she’s not enjoying scrumptious weekend brunches and weeknight dinner excursions to Curry Hill, you can find her rummaging flea markets and pushing around a little, red cart full of laundry or groceries.

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