Texting while Driving

We hear a beeping noise, a noise coming from our phone.  A noise that is letting us know that we just received a new message.  So why, why do we always feel that it is so important to pick it up and read it? Why do we have this sense of urgency to respond back?  I mean who cares that we are driving a vehicle, who cares that we might cause an accident and kill ourselves and worst yet other innocent people.  All we care about is what the other person has to say on the other end and how we just need to get back to them because this, this cannot wait.

I am going to admit that I am aware of the law - no texting and driving/ Hands free law.  And I tell myself over and over again "I shouldn't do this, I am going to stop".  But when am I?  What am I waiting for?  Today I went for a walk, I just wanted to run across the street and grab a couple of things.  As I was walking (against traffic) I was barely paying any attention and I happened look up to a car flying right at me, it was LITERALLY 2 inches away from hitting me, I had to jump away.  While I was jumping away I looked right at the driver.  The driver was a young High School girl, who wasn't paying any attention while she was texting and driving.  She had no clue she almost hit me and when I looked back at her vehicle she was still swerving and texting.  I was so angry, she ALMOST KILLED me and she didn't even noticed.  I was about to do anything to get her attention, so I can yell at her to "PAY ATTENTION"!  I imagined myself picking up a rock and throwing it at her vehicle and not caring at all if I busted her window.  I was so angry, I wanted her to stop.  It all happened so fast, by the time I could do anything she was gone.  

So I kept walking to the store full of anger and I thought to myself "WOW, thank goodness I am alive"  I also thought to myself "Man, how many times have I texted and drive....that could have been me.  I could have been that girl, almost hitting an innocent person.  What if I do one day?  This is it, I am no longer going to text and drive"

I am sharing this story with all of you in hopes that maybe you will do the same thing.  When you get that text message, email or BBM while you are driving I am hoping you will make the right decision and look at it later.  I am sure it is not that important and it can wait.  If it is that important, pull over, go to the nearest parking lot read it and answer.  

Please see below some statistics about texting and driving that I found from InsureMe.com:

1. Texting while driving increases the risk of accident 23.2 times over unimpaired driving.
2. Texting while driving results in longer response times than even drunken driving. While an unimpaired driver can respond quickly to changes in traffic and begin braking within half a second, a legally drunk driver needs four additional feet to begin braking—and a driver who’s texting needs 70.
3. In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spend nearly five seconds looking at their mobile devices—enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more area than the length of a football field.
4. Though 95 percent of drivers surveyed said texting behind the wheel was unacceptable and unsafe, at least 21 percent admit to doing it anyway.
5. Especially amongst teens, texting results in erratic driving behavior, like lane weaving and speeding up and down, increasing the likelihood of hurting pedestrians and running into other vehicles.
6. Texting behind the wheel is generational: 37 percent of drivers 18 to 27 admit to texting while driving, compared to 14 percent of 28 to 44 year olds, and 2 percent of 45 to 60 year olds.
7. An accident can happen in two to three seconds while texting. 

Just ask yourself, Is all of this really worth the risk of jeopardizing your life or even somebody else's?