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AAA Carolinas has stepped up its campaign against cell phone use and texting while driving.

Last fall, the Charlotte-based motor club posted signs on gas pumps across the state, including the Triad, urging motorists to hang up and live.

Now, the warnings have begun to show up on billboards in High Point and Greensboro.

But can't images of blood-spattered windshields and a hand in a pool of blood be a distraction themselves?

AAA officials don't sound worried.

"Looking at the message only takes a couple of seconds," said Tom Crosby, president of AAA Carolinas' Traffic Safety Foundation. "The messages are simple."

One billboard says "Hang Up And Drive." Another reads "You drive. You dial. You die."

Both have smaller type at the bottom telling about the dangers of cell phone use while driving.

Researchers admit they don't have a lot of data about potential distractions from billboards.

"You wouldn't want a campaign aimed at safer driving to cause more crashes," said Arthur Goodwin, senior research associate at the UNC Highway Safety Research Center. "(But) in a way, it makes sense to use billboards. You're catching people while they are driving."

Goodwin said cell phone use by motorists appears to be a growing problem.

One study shows that nearly 60 percent of the state's drivers have made or received calls while driving.

Another says that 80 percent of crashes and 65 percent of near-crashes occurred when drivers were distracted, primarily by wireless devices such as cell phones.

"Using a cell phone while driving to either talk or text ... can lead to deadly consequences," Crosby said. "The graphics used in the billboard campaign are designed to get your attention and make you think twice."

The campaign will run through March.

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