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GREENSBORO - Hang up and drive. Hang up and live.

That's the message AAA Carolinas wants to get out to cell phone users in Guilford County.

This week, the Charlotte-based motor club began putting up posters at selected gas stations in Greensboro, High Point and Archdale, warning motorists about the dangers of talking on a phone or texting while driving.

The posters say such activities make drivers four times more likely to have a crash.

"Using a cell phone while driving to either talk or text is a major distraction ... and can lead to deadly consequences," Tom Crosby, a spokesman for the motor club said in a news release. "AAA Carolinas wants to alert motorists to the dangers."

The ad campaign started last month in Wake, Durham, New Hanover, Pitt and Watauga, the state's five most dangerous counties for crashes and injuries per mile driven.

AAA said the campaign had been expanded to Guilford because the county ranked in the top 20 in the state last year in crashes, fatal crashes and injuries per 100 million miles traveled.

According to a recent study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes occurred when drivers were distracted, primarily by wireless devices such as cell phones.

The ad campaign drives the dangers home in dramatic fashion - by depicting bloody crash scenes. One of the posters, which are mounted atop gas pumps, shows a broken, blood-spattered windshield. The text reads, "You drive. You dial. You die."

Reaction has been mixed.

"Some people were upset," said Carol Gifford, another AAA spokesman. "Some people thought the graphics were too emotional. Other people really appreciated it and said, 'Good, that is exactly what I think.'"

The campaign in Guilford will continue for a month and then be evaluated for possible expansion.

"One of the things we hope it does is grab your attention," Gifford said. "We want to make (motorists) think. That's our goal."

Contact Donald W. Patterson at 373-7027 or don. patterson@news-record.com