Texting While Driving

There some things that you just shouldn’t do. Don't leap before you look, don't play with fire, and never wrestle a bear. And under no circumstance should you text and drive 

Texting while driving is incredibly dangerous, and far too common. There are far too many idioms out there expressing the importance of looking at things to justify texting and driving at the same time. Keep your eye on the ball, eyes on the prize, watch the road…

In 2010 the National Highway Traffic Administration reported that driver distraction was responsible for 18% of fatal crashes and crashes that resulted in injury. That's 3,092 people killed in crashes and 416,000 injured. That means nearly 18% of crashes could be prevented by just paying attention while driving. 

According to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, texting increases the risk of crashing by 23 times that of driving while not distracted. This shouldn’t come as a surprise. Not only are you distracted from driving while you're texting, but you're taking your eyes off the road. The lay of the road can change in a fraction of a second. A lot goes on between when you last saw the car in front of you and when you fumble to correct the autocorrect.

A survey conducted by the Pew Research Center reported that almost 40% of teens have been in a car when the driver was using a cell phone in a dangerous way. This doesn’t mean they were savagely brandishing their phone like a lethal weapon. Talking or texting while on the phone is a dangerous behavior that puts everyone at risk.

Currently, there are no national laws prohibiting texting while driving, but it is illegal to use cell phones while driving in 14 states, and 38 more prohibit novice drivers from using cell phones while driving.

While it may be extremely tempting to check your phone as soon as it shudders, you can wait 10 minutes to read your texts. It doesn't matter what Frankie called Johnnie, and it’s not worth getting into an accident to find out.