The obsession with texting that is rampant in teen-agers and young adults has a deadly downside. When someone gets behind the wheel of a car and can't stop texting, it can change or even end their life.
Statistics show that someone who texts while driving is 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident that someone who doesn't. This is on par with the accident rates of drunk drivers, but many texting accidents are more horrific. The drunk driver, while impaired, still has his or her eyes on the road ahead, while texters are staring at their phones for 3, 4 or 5 seconds, not looking at the road at all. A vehicle can travel the length of a football field in that time, and has not reduced its speed at all. The result is much deadlier, whether it's a tree, guard rail or another vehicle that they collide with.
