Occasionally I'll get a text message while driving...and as soon as I go to read it my wife will remind me to practice what I preach. She's right, of course. All it takes is a little patience and discipline to exponentially reduce my odds of having a traffic accident. Apparently we're not the only ones dealing with this issue.
Recently many American parents have been turning to a British Public Service Announcement (WARNING! BRITISH PSA IS GRAPHIC!) produced by the Gwent Police Department in Wales to make an impression on American teens about the dangers of texting while driving. The response has been staggering as it has received nearly 3.5-million hits on YouTube.
The Today Show ran a segment in response to the British PSA that underscores just how big of a problem texting while driving is here in the U.S. A couple of interesting points:
- Recently in Los Angeles, 25 died and 100 were injured when a train driver ran a signal just seconds after texting
- A recent Virginia study shows the risk of collision jumps 23-times if texting while driving
- A recent study shows that 18-to-25-year old drivers talking on a cell phone with a headset reacted as slowly as 65-to-74-year old drivers without any distractions.
- 17 states and Washington, DC ban texting while driving
- 7 states ban hand-held cell phone usage while driving
- The National Transportation Safety Board thinks 10,000 deaths on US roadways annually could be prevented if we all stopped texting while driving
If anyone has a teenager, I recommend having them watch the British PSA so they can see the real and graphic consequences that could result from texting while driving. Since AAA conducted a survey recently that showed 21% of respondents had recently texted while driving, I also recommend the video for adults as well. Adults should aim to lead by example here. It's better to plan for the worst than to simply hope for the best.
