Put Your Phone Down and Drive

April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Wow... Is it really that big of an issue to have an entire month dedicated to distracted driving awareness? The more I think about it, yes, when I'm driving I do notice people on their phones and they are not usually talking. Smart phones have given us the ability to be up to date with ‘virtually’ everything every minute of the day and so most of us take advantage of the cyber world, driving or not. 

Recently, the Texas Department of Transportation issued a campaign called, “Talk/Text CRASH” to raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving. The purpose for this campaign is to urge Texans to put their cell phones away and concentrate on the road. I’m sure everyone has seen the, “YOU TEXT. YOU TALK. YOU CRASH” and the, “DRIVE NOW. TALK OR TEXT LATER,” signs on the highways.  Or… maybe you've been too distracted with other things besides driving and didn't notice these signs. These signs are apart of the campaign.

TxDOT estimates that over 100,000 crashes last year were attributed to driver’s not having their complete attention on the road while driving. That’s just in Texas. While texting is not the only cause of distractions while driving, it is the easiest to detect. The National Safety Council found that there is not a safe way to use a cell phone while driving. The SMARTest thing we can do is cut out the distraction by putting your phone away and concentrate on driving.

So please, put your phones down and drive. For your safety and the safety of others, just drive! If a situation arises and you absolutely have to use your phone, pull over. With the rising numbers of accidents and deaths because of distractions while driving, don’t chance it.  Life is too precious so leave the LOL’s (laughing out loud), TBH’s (to be honest) and SMH’s (shaking my head) until you’re not driving, 4COL (for crying out loud).  There should be an automatic reply of DND (do not disturb) when you receive a text while you’re driving. I wonder if there's an app for that.