The Office of Student Affairs at American University of Sharjah (AUS) launched at the university's student center, yesterday, Monday, October 17, the 'I Pledge' campaign against mobile texting and calling behind the wheel.

The campaign was launched by Sheikh Mohammed Al Thani, Director of the AUS President's Office, who was accompanied by Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Salem Al Qaseer, Vice Chancellor for Public Affairs and other senior university officials.

 Sheikh Al Thani logged on to emaratalyoum.com to register and pledge his support for the campaign. "This is a very important issue and I encourage all students, faculty and staff to pledge their support for this campaign against texting and talking on the phone while driving," he said.

"Many road accidents are caused by motorists being occupied with their mobile phones while driving. This dangerous habit is completely avoidable if people will just refrain from using their mobile phones while behind the wheel. We are very enthusiastic to launch the 'I Pledge' campaign on our campus due to the large youth population we have at AUS. This campaign is one way to educate our students about the danger of using mobile phones while driving," said Dr. Moza Al Shehhi, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs.

In addition to logging on the website, people could also scan the provided barcode with their smartphones, which would take them directly to the site where they would register and pledge their support on their smartphones.