Singer and “American Idol” season six winner Jordin Sparks joined race car driver Andy Pilgrim at a National Transportation and Safety Board meeting Wednesday to speak about the dangers of texting and driving.
According to the Washington Examiner, Sparks has appeared in D.C. before when she met with the Secretary of Transportation, Ray LaHood, in 2010 after he discovered her texting and driving campaign.
LaHood asked Sparks to come to D.C. to discuss distracted driving, but the singer says she hasn’t spoken to him in a while and thinks it’s important that they do.
“Hopefully we’ll get back started,” she said at a press conference. “I think all of us should come together to find a way to get this really started.”
Sparks, now 22, became a star at age 17 and said she got used to people driving her around.
However, after and incident where she got behind the wheel, looked at her phone and swerved, she realized distracted driving was something that needs to be talked about.
“That was it for me,” she said.
As part of her texting and driving campaign, Sparks suggested to radio stations that play her songs to rethink the “text in the answer” promotions they broadcast on the air.
“Tell people to be careful,” she advised. “Pull over to the side of the road before you try texting in.”
Pilgrim agreed with Sparks, and commended the NTSB for proposing a ban on phones in cars even though it may be an unpopular move.