Deadly Disconnect

Most young adult drivers (77%) are confident they can safely text while driving.

More than half (55%) say it’s EASY to text and drive.

Many young drivers have seen their parents talking on a cell phone or texting. A third of US drivers (18-64 years old) ADMIT to texting while driving. That’s not to mention drivers who surf the web while driving… one in five of us confesses to it!

How many of us have witnessed another driver cruising along at highway speeds with their heads down looking at their phones? Has anyone NOT seen this?

If you’re doing it, you’re modeling that behavior for others, including every kid who ever sees you.

People must believe they’re immune, right? Wrong… the deadly disconnect is you think you’ll be fine when the odds are totally stacked against you.

People die on US roads every day because a driver is texting. One in four crashes involves a cell phone. 341,000 crashes last year involved texting. Using a cell phone increases your risk of a crash by 400%. Even dialing a phone makes a crash more likely, but texting is off the charts. You and your passengers and everyone around you are 23 TIMES more likely to be in a crash when you’re texting.

• Is reading a text safer than sending one? No.

• If you hold your phone by the windshield, that’s safer, right? No.

• If you do it without other cars around you, that’s O.K., isn’t it? No.

If you text and drive, you are spending time outside your lane. You’re spending time distracted. You are a danger to others.

You may wind up taking someone’s life. For what? How much is your text worth?

Put your phone down, and stay alive.