Please, Don’t Text and Drive

We’ve all heard it. We know we shouldn’t do it. But some drivers still text and drive while on the road. Cell phones, especially smartphones, keep us connected and informed at any point in our day. Unfortunately, they represent a big distraction and contribute to a lot of accidents every year.

Why You Shouldn’t Text and Drive

Texting and driving is a huge distraction and can lead to tragedy. You’ve heard you shouldn’t do it, but do you know why?

  • It’s only safe to take your eyes from the road for one or two seconds. Reading a text message takes five seconds, the equivalent of driving the length of a football field – without looking.
  • In 2011 alone, 1.3 million car crashes involved cell phones.
  • A crash is 23 times more likely to occur while you’re texting.

Texting and driving may seem like something that only younger people do, but only 13 percent of drivers between the age of 18 and 20 admit that they text and drive. They’re not the only ones, though. Adults are texting and driving in big numbers. In a survey, 48 percent of kids 12 to 17 say they’ve seen their parents do it.

How to Stop Texting and Driving

Speaking as one adult to another, we’re begging you: Put down your phone. No message is so important that you need to read or answer it while you’re driving down the road. Wait until you arrive at your destination or pull off the road before picking up your phone.

For the parents out there, you need to have a talk with your children about the dangers of texting and driving. All the drivers in your home may want to consider the Text-Free-Driving Pledge or the It Can Wait pledge. You can also add apps to your child’s phone (and yours) to help keep you from breaking that pledge.

Just like we’ve all been taught to wear our seat belt, we all need to learn to put our cell phones down while we’re driving. If the idea of a ticket, points on your license, and higher insurance premiums doesn’t faze you, remember that lives are at stake here, too.

Remember, don’t text and drive. Whatever it is can wait.