Can These Highly Trained Dogs Get You Off Your Phone While Driving? Geico Hopes So

Citing the stat that one out of every three crashes is caused by distracted driving, Geico's newest ad aims to find a solution that will finally get motorists off their smartphones. The answer? Smartdogs. How smart are these Smartdogs? They've been meticulously trained to slap or snatch away your smartphones while you're behind the wheel—though they seem happy to perform this task regardless of where you are. Here's a look at how the Smartdogs are being trained for this critical mission: [kickout id="1"] The new ad, from longtime Geico creative agency The Martin Agency, is timed to correspond with April being Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The "one in three crashes" statistic cited at the beginning of the ad is just one of many findings about the dangers of distracted driving—especially with regard to phones and other devices—released in 2016 and based on data from thousands of drivers. "The results show that crash causation has shifted dramatically in recent years, with driver-related factors (i.e., error, impairment, fatigue, and distraction) present in almost 90% of crashes," says the report in the peer-reviewed scientific journal PNAS. "The results also definitively show that distraction is detrimental to driver safety, with handheld electronic devices having high use rates and risk." Here's the study's specific section where Geico likely got its stat: "Calculating a population-attributable risk for distraction overall shows that potentially 36%, or 4 million of the nearly 11 million crashes occurring in the United States annually, could be avoided if no distraction was present." But the report has several other fascinating findings as well: • "Driving while observably angry, sad, crying, and/or emotionally agitated increases the risk of a crash by 9.8 times compared with model driving." • "Driver judgment errors (e.g., speeding well above the speed limit or traveling too fast for conditions) and other aggressive driving behaviors increase crash risk 11.1 times more than model driving." • "Interacting with in-vehicle devices that do not include the more standard radio or HVAC tasks, such as using a touchscreen interface, had a high odds ratio (i.e., 4.6 times higher than model driving)." It's not all bad news, though! Here's an interesting set of counterintuitive tidbits: "Several factors previously thought to constitute significant driver risk factors, such as particular distractions (e.g., applying makeup) or errors (e.g., following too closely), were found to be much lower in prevalence in this analysis. Other factors posed much lower risks than previously thought, or even had a protective effect (e.g., interacting with children in the rear seat)." Again, since you're unlikely to get a smartdog any time soon, you should really read the full report. CREDITS: Client Credits: Joe Pusateri: Vice President, Marketing Amy Furman: Assistant Vice President, Marketing Gary Aurand: Brand Team Manager Tom Perlozzo: Brand Team Senior Supervisor Brighid Griffin: Brand Team Planner Olivia Ashby: Brand Team Planner Tim Ware: Brand Team Planner Catherine Hefferan: Brand Team Buyer Agency Credits: The Martin Agency Chief Creative Officer: Karen Costello Executive Creative Director: Jerry Hoak SVP, Group Creative Director: Steve Bassett VP, Creative Director: Neel Williams VP, Creative Director: Justin Harris Senior Copywriter: Dave Ashton Art Director: Rushil Nadkarni Planning Director: Lauren Prociv SVP, Executive Producer: Kerry Ayers Senior Content Producer: Brian Fox Senior Content Producer: Heather Collier Business Affairs Supervisor: Suzanne Wieringo Senior Financial Affairs Manager: Amy Trenz SVP, Group Account Director: Matt Mattox Account Supervisor: Jon Glomb Account Executive: Allie Waller Account Coordinator: Abbey Reddington Account Coordinator: Yoon Ko Project Manager: Stephanie Ashworth Financial Account Supervisor: Monica Cox Head of Integrated Production: Tasha Dean Production Production Company: Park Pictures Director: Terri Timely Director of Photography: Donavan Sell Exec. Producer: Jackie Kelman Bisbee Exec. Producer: Dinah Rodriguez Head of Production: Anne Bobroff Line Producer: David Lambert Editorial Editorial Company: Cut + Run Editor: Frank Effron Assistant Editor: Kelly Henson Executive Producer: Amburr Farls Producer: Brian Mulvey Color & Finishing VFX & Finishing: ARTJAIL Head of Production: John Skeffington Producer: Perry Tate Colorist: Clinton Homuth Sound Audio Post Facility: Heard City Executive Producer: Jackie James Sound Designer and Mixer: Mike Vitacco Music Music: Butter Music & Sound Executive Producer: Ian Jeffreys Producer: Kristin Kuraishi