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FINDLAY, OHIO, April 30, 2015 – Cooper Tire has teamed up with Tristan to call attention to the dangers of distracted driving in partnership with Tristan’s Dnt txt n drV Foundation. Cooper made the announcement official today in conjunction with National Distracted Driving Awareness Month. The partnership will include speaking appearances, web and social media efforts, and Cooper and Nunez will collaborate throughout 2015 on additional efforts to raise awareness of the dangers of distracted driving as part of the ongoing alliance.
While Cooper and Nunez are focused on raising awareness of the dangers of distracted driving for all age groups, the initial focus of the partnership is on younger drivers as statistics show that teens are distracted nearly a quarter of the time they are behind the wheel. Quickly rising in the world of professional racing as a full-time driver in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Series, Nunez has been working tirelessly to help educate and empower drivers to make better decisions behind the wheel. In fact, he formally launched the Dnt txt n drV Foundation in 2014, and has already been a keynote speaker at the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit. Earlier this month, he addressed the Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities, which is the largest gathering of highway safety professionals in the U.S. With appearances at schools dotted throughout his race schedule, Nunez actively encourages high school students to sign a pledge against texting and driving.
“I’ve had a long-standing relationship with Cooper as a racing sponsor, and won a championship on Cooper tires in 2012,” Nunez said. “So, it means a lot for me to expand my relationship with Cooper off the track to focus on driver safety. It may come as a shock, but I often feel safer driving on the race track than I do in normal traffic due to the rise of distracted driving. I’m glad Cooper is as passionate about this cause as I am. The company has been a long-time advocate of proper tire maintenance and tire safety, and together with my focus on the dangers of distracted driving, we make a great team to help everyday drivers—especially young ones— be safer.”
“At Cooper, we craft quality, reliable tires with innovative features that meet the needs of all kinds of drivers,” said Mike Simon, Cooper’s Vice President of Marketing. “Yet, when consumer behavior—like teens driving while distracted—interferes with their wellbeing on the road, it’s time to put a strong voice like Tristan’s behind the cause and align with it. Research shows that the average consumer is never more than three feet away from their phone. With this type of temptation so near, it’s vital that we share tips on how to mitigate or remove the dangers,” Simon added.
Some of the tips for drivers include stowing cell phones in the trunk of the car before driving, downloading an app that disables cells phones while in motion, or even asking a passenger to respond to texts or calls while driving.
In addition, Cooper has extensive tire safety and maintenance information on a dedicated safety section on coopertire.com and the company is developing innovations to help drivers keep an eye on the condition of their tires. For example, Cooper’s premium passenger CS5 Touring and the SUV/CUV dedicated Discoverer SRX tires feature the company’s consumer-friendly feature—the Wear Square™ incorporated into the tread design at six reference points around the tire. The Wear Square changes shape as tread wears, allowing drivers to visually assess the approximate remaining tread life and identify possible uneven wear or wheel alignment issues.
For more information on Cooper and Tristan Nunez, visit www.coopertire.com and www.dnttxtndrvfoundation.org. Also connect with Cooper and Nunez on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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About Cooper Tire & Rubber Company
Cooper Tire & Rubber Company, together with its subsidiaries, is a leading designer, manufacturer and marketer of innovative, great-performing tires that people depend on for all of life's road trips, whether on city streets, off-road adventures or high-speed tracks. In fact, Cooper Tire is proud to sponsor and race in all three levels of the Mazda Road to Indy development program within the IndyCar racing series. Cooper tires can also been seen on the track as a sponsor of the IMSA Prototype Lites Series, and competing in the short course off-road TORC Series. Headquartered in Findlay, Ohio, Cooper, together with its subsidiaries, has manufacturing, sales, distribution, technical and design facilities in 11 countries around the world. This year, as we head into our second century in the tire industry, Cooper is looking toward a future where innovation will continue to drive our products and our products will continue to drive the world. To connect with Cooper Tire, visit www.coopertire.com, www.facebook.com/coopertire or www.twitter.com/teamcoopertire.
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LENT: TEEN RACECAR DRIVER CHALLENGES ANTI-TEXTING COMMITMENT
The Dnt txt n drV Foundation and Its Founder Tristan Nunez Encourages Change This Year
BOCA RATON, FLA. (February 17, 2015) - MAZDA factory professional autoracing driver Tristan Nunez is challenging consumers to utilize Lent this year to finally give up texting and driving. Lent is traditionally reserved as something people give up that is considered difficult, Nunez knows retiring texting and driving is life-altering.
While texting and driving is not something that should ever be done, Nunez is challenging people to finally give it up beginning this Wednesday.
“As a professional racecar driver, I know the importance of safety behind the wheel,” said Nunez. “And, as a teen, I understand the pressures and temptations that come with the need to be connected, constantly, to technology and to my friends and fans. Unfortunately, this can lead a lot of drivers to make poor decisions, while driving, and can have serious and, sometimes, deadly consequences. While contemplating what to give up for Lent this year, I thought, ‘I still see people texting and driving and maybe Lent would be a good challenge for other people to finally stop.’ It’s a commitment I made a long time ago, and it frustrates me to still see it happening.”
Often times, people try and get creative on what to give up for Lent each year and Nunez has taken the guesswork out of trying to come up with an idea this year. Knowing that many, regardless of their religion, utilize the 40-day Lent period to challenge themselves to leverage the period to make a change for the better, Nunez thought it was a great opportunity to convince those who still, on occasion, may text and drive, to finally break the habit.
The savvy racing driver has been working to educate and empower consumers to make better decisions behind the wheel, through his foundation, The Dnt txt n drV Foundation, which he launched in 2014. The 19-year-old South Florida native launched his 501c3-registered Foundation after spending three years advocating against distracted driving and working to raise awareness to prevent texting and driving.
This past fall, he was a headlining speaker at the Department of Transportation’s fifth annual Teen Distracted Driving Prevention Summit in the nation’s capital. Next month, he’ll be the keynote speaker at the Lifesavers National Conference on Highway Safety Priorities – the largest gathering of highway safety professionals in the U.S.
All the efforts of Nunez and his foundation are geared at raising funds in order to help keep consumers informed and to prevent individuals from parting in distracted driving.
So come this Ash Wednesday, which occurs on February 18, and covers a period of approximately six weeks before Easter Sunday, on Thursday, April 2, 2015, put down your phone while driving and save a life—perhaps even your own. And while Lent only lasts 40 days, continue the commitment for life as Nunez has done.
