Safety: Please Don't Text & Drive Pass It On

A couple of years ago my nieces friend was killed because she was in a turning lane and got hit from behind by a girl that was texting on her phone. It was a senseless death that was completely preventable. I will note that these girls were teenagers yet I know this is a danger to everyone on the road. Anyone who uses a cell phone needs to keep in mind you could be next. So please help me spread the word to your loved ones and friends, while driving put the phone down. 

You get a call while you’re driving. It’s important, so you answer it. Your grandson’s driving and gets a text from a buddy, immediately texting him back. You both know it’s dangerous, but you do it anyway.

The fact is, some experts believe as many as a million crashes a year happen because of distracted driving (and it’s not just cell phones and text messaging, but talking to a friend and changing the radio station is considered “distracted driving”, too). Need more sobering statistics? Text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted, according to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute. And you probably already know that according to a University of Utah study, using a cell phone while driving —whether it's hand-held or hands-free delays a driver's reactions as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.

Stay safe by keeping these rules in mind:

Don’t drive when you’re tired. It’s a lot easier to get hypnotized by the road when you’re fatigued. And worse, you risk falling asleep at the wheel. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates at least 100,000 crashes—including over 1,500 fatal accidents—are caused annually by drivers who drove when they were too tired to get behind the wheel. Open the windows if you feel sleepy or stop and get a soda, coffee or water to drink.

Credit: Article is the property of  http://www.grandparents.com.