If you have a texting-while-driving habit, don’t be surprised to see a photo of yourself caught in the act slapped up on a billboard in San Francisco.
TWIT Spotting is a project launched by San Francisco-based graphic artist Brian Singer that publicly shames drivers he spots engaging in TWIT (texting while in traffic) by posting photos of them online and on 11 billboards in and around the city, Gizmodo reports.
"My hope is that it will freak some people out and make them think twice before picking up the phone while driving," he told Gizmodo. "My greater hope is that it inspires others to start taking photos, too. If enough people started doing this, it could have a dramatic affect on people's behavior."
Anyone can submit photos to the project as long as the images include the drivers’ face and distracted behavior -- be it texting or eyelash-curling -- and are snapped by a passenger or pedestrian.
“You can't take photos while you're driving,” TWIT Spotting lays out in its guidelines. “That's just stupid.”
Singer was inspired to start the project after observing the behavior firsthand during his commute on the U.S. Highway 101.
“I started seeing how much texting was going on the freeway and it sort of blew my mind,” he told Yahoo, conceding that it’s something he thinks we’ve all been guilty of at some point. “For every nose picker, I would see 20 people texting.”
But can the people Singer catches engaging in an activity that causes more than 3,000 traffic fatalities a year claim their privacy has been violated? There hasn’t yet been a public outcry from anyone photographed for the project, but Singer believes he’s acting within his rights.
"I don't think people driving on 101 have the expectation of privacy," he told Gizmodo. "I could be wrong, but the police need to be able to see them using phones and breaking the law, so all I'm really doing is taking photos in a public place."
Related
Before You Go
