What happens when you’re driving while intexticated? Download these safety apps, talk with your teen, take an “It Can Wait” pledge together. Save a life.
You’re driving 65 mph on the highway. Suddenly the phone loudly dings. You have two options.
#1 – Avoid the ding and keep driving.
#2 – Look down (just for a second).
Once you look down, the chances of responding to that text go up significantly. With today’s bombardment of non-stop rings and dings, we need to be even more aware of what dangers can arise if we don’t set up boundaries while behind the wheel. As the video above portrays, this is just a glimpse of what transpires when a 2 second text takes your eyes off the road.
One of the top ways to prevent an early death, is to not text and drive. It’s that simple. I have heard countless stories over the years after speaking on this topic, of babies, mothers, fathers, children, six classmates at once, etc. who have died due to the direct result of texting behind the wheel. Teens have showed me trees where their friends died after swerving off the road going 70 mph. Friends, it’s not worth it to text and drive. The LOL can wait for another 20 minutes!
Over 6,000 deaths and half a million injuries are caused annually by drivers who were texting and driving. Within the minimal 5 seconds it takes to respond to a text, you have driven the length of a football field without looking at the road! It’s like driving blind for 5 seconds. According to the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration, texting and driving is comparable to operating a vehicle after having 4 beers.
Check out an assimilated scenario of what can happen when people text and drive. Show your teen this video!
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When teens are asked what their number one distraction is while driving, texting is their number one answer. For further research, you can find many informative articles on this subject by checking out Consumer Affairs. It is imperative that we discuss this topic, so that you or your loved one are not victims of something that’s completely preventable.
We lose 11 more teens daily from texting & driving.
— Tina Marie Griffin (@TinaMGriffin) April 26, 2015
Here are the top 5 things you can do to prevent an early death behind the wheel.
- Turn off your phone before driving to your destination. It takes only 2 seconds to hit the off switch. This is the best move to make to limit distractions while driving.
- Download and install the Agent app (Android phones only). The top feature is that it auto-responds when you’re driving to let people know you’re behind the wheel.
- If you must respond to an incoming text, call the person back using a headset (preferably a bluetooth ear piece).
- Get the AT&T DriveMode app. This sweet app silences incoming messages so you can focus on driving and it also turns on automatically when you’re going over 15 mph and turns off shortly after stopping. Talk about convenience! Parents will get a text message if their child’s DriveMode app is turned off.
Almost half of teens who are asked if they text and drive, admit to doing it, but over half of them mentioned that their parents text and drive as well. Writing this article is a reminder to myself to never text and drive. I wouldn’t be able to live with myself knowing I killed my own children or other people on the road from making one stupid mistake.
Take some time with your kids to watch the video above, look over the detailed texting while driving infographic and then Google search photos with the phrase “texting and driving accidents.” These will show the scenes that our pop culture doesn’t capture when we chose to take our eyes off the road. After talking with your teens about this topic, decide together to take the “It Can Wait” pledge created by AT&T. You can save a life – maybe even your own.
Question: What alternative to texting do you use while driving? Share your answer by clicking here.