Since there have been so many stories in the news recently about people getting into accidents while texting and driving (or operating heavy machinery), I thought it needed some attention.  Currently there are 14 states (and the District of Columbia) where it is illegal to text and drive including: Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, New Jersey, North Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Virginia and Washington.  Other states including New Hampshire and Texas are trying to pass the same law to ban texting while driving.

According to a Nationwide Insurance study, about 20% of drivers’ text while driving (about 80% talk on their cell phones while driving), 66% are ages 18 to 24. According to NHTSA, motor vehicle accidents are the leading cause of death for young adults age 15 to 20.  This can all be stopped if people chose to ignore or turn off their cell phones while in transit.  Accidents caused by cell phone use make up an estimated 2,600 deaths each year, and 12,000 serious injuries.   

The National Safety Council has put up an ad campaign on billboards across 67 markets nationwide entitled, “Death by Cell Phone.”  The billboards feature two people who have died due to text/cell pho old boy fro ne related accidents – Linda, a 61 year old wife, mother and grandmother from Oklahoma and Joe, a 12 year m Michigan.  The title came from Linda’s daughter who had been talking about her mother’s accident and said, “He ran a red light and T-boned her car at 45 to 50 miles per hour, which was the posted speed limit.  My mother died within a couple of hours from blunt force trauma to the head, neck and chest.  I just call it death by cell phone.”  These billboards feature the two with a web address where people can go to get more information, watch a short video from their families and tells stories about their lives – www.deathbycellphone.org .

Here are just a few incidents involving text messaging:

-Last fall a conductor of a Los Angeles commuter train killed 25 people, running a red light while text messaging.

-May, Trolley operator in Mass. was in an accident and injured 50 people while texting his girlfriend.

-June, Sergio Kindle, damaged an apartment building and his car while texting and driving, he had a minor concussion and no one else was hurt.

-Last year, two women were killed and more injured when a 90,000 pound vehicle carrying a tractor trailer ran into a stream of cars that were stopped; the operator was texting while driving and didn’t realize traffic had come to a stop.

Please, people, your life is important to you, correct?  Sending one text message or two can wait till you get to your destination or pull off to the side of the road if it is that important; no conversation is worth risking your life, or someone else’s over.  Put down your cell phone and pay attention to the road.