King Features Syndicate and AAA Join Forces in Program Against Teen Texting While Driving

Popular comic strip Zits to help raise awareness of dangers oftexting while driving through an array of AAA resources targeted atteens

NEW YORK & ORLANDO, Fla., March 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Leading comics syndicate King Features Syndicate and AAA, NorthAmerica's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, havecome together to help put a stop against one of the most dangerousissues currently facing young drivers: texting while driving.According to research by AAA and Seventeen magazine, 24 percent ofteen drivers admit to sending a text message while driving in thepast 30 days. To help raise awareness and educate teen drivers onthis serious issue affecting millions, King Features and AAA arelaunching an anti-texting while driving program featuring one oftoday's most popular comic strips, Zits, which chronicles the dailyadventures of 16-year-old Jeremy Duncan.

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Zits creators Jim Borgman and Jerry Scott helped bring attentionto the risks of texting while driving earlier this week with thestart of a special week-long series which found Jeremy at the centerof a car crash involving texting. The Zits comic strip appears inmore than 1,600 newspapers and has millions of daily readers aroundthe world. As part of the anti-texting while driving campaign, AAAhas developed a series of resources for parents and teens on itsKeys2Drive website at TeenDriving.AAA.com, which incorporate Zitsartwork and strips from the recent texting storyline. The Zitsseries helps reinforce serious messages in a way that holds thebroadest appeal.

Beginning last year, King Features also teamed up with AAA ineffort to help keep teens safe on the road by taking part in AAA'sStartSmart program which helps families get through the crucialperiod when teens are learning to drive. An array of Zits comicstrips are prominently featured throughout the year-long StartSmartprogram and its series of e-newsletters that focus on importanttopics related to teen driver safety and parent involvement such asdriving at night, conducting supervised driving and distractions.

About Zits

Distributed by King Features to more than 1,600 newspapers in 45countries and 15 languages, Zits features the daily adventures ofthe quintessential teenager. With his loving parents, Walt andConnie Duncan, his best friend, Hector, and his on-again, off-againgirlfriend, Sara Toomey, by his side, the perpetually slouching anddisheveled Jeremy treads the murky waters of adolescence inoversized sneakers. Zits is the brainchild of Pulitzer Prize-winning artist Jim Borgman, and award-winning cartoonist-writerJerry Scott, who also co-creates the popular "Baby Blues" strip.Zits established itself early when it launched in July 1997 in morethan 200 newspapers - one of the largest start-ups in comicshistory.

About King Features Syndicate

King Features Syndicate is a member of Hearst Entertainment andSyndication Group, which combines Hearst Corporation's cable networkpartnerships, television programming activities, and newspapersyndication and merchandise licensing operations. King Features isthe world's premier distributor of comics, columns, editorialcartoons, puzzles and games, distributing in print and online some150 features to nearly 5,000 newspapers and other outlets around theglobe. It is one of the largest and most experienced organizationsin merchandise licensing and entertainment. It represents some ofthe most recognizable global brands, including Betty Boop, Popeyethe Sailor Man, Olive Oyl and Romero Britto. For more information,please visit http://www.kingfeatures.com.

About AAA

As North America's largest motoring and leisure travelorganization, AAA provides more than 52 million members with travel,insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since itsfounding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has beena leader and advocate for the safety and security of all travelers.AAA clubs can be visited on the Internet at AAA.com.

AAA news releases, high-resolution images, broadcast-qualityvideo, fact sheets and podcasts are available on the AAA NewsRoom atAAA.com/news.

Stay connected with AAA on the web via:

Twitter.com/AAAauto

Twitter.com/AAAnews

YouTube.com/AAA

Facebook.com/AAAfanpage

Facebook.com/AutoSkills

SOURCE AAA