If I see you texting whilst driving, I will try to damage your car.

No, I won't, but this facebook group says they will. The cynical message to the left is another example of how humor can be used in the whole "texting while driving" campaign. Yet, in the focus group discussion I had today with high school students, they responded on the majority that the most effective style of messaging to use is scare tactics. Do you think real-life horror stories would make an impact? Would those persuade the fence-texters? Take the story of five talented high school seniors who died in a tragic car accident in 2007 in New York. Cell phone records show a text message was sent from the phone belonging to the driver, Bailey Goodman, at 10:05:52. A reply was sent to her phone at 10:06:29. Thirty-eight seconds later, someone called 911 to report the accident that killed Bailey and her friends. Or take the story of one of our focus group participants today- his cousin caused the death of another person because he was texting while driving. Are scary stories like this really going to help people stop?

A scary story.....

"Come on!" I'm thinking to myself as my frustration starts to mount. The Friday night traffic on University Avenue is stop and go--the result of an accident near 800 North. Suddenly, the vibration of my phone in my pocket takes me away from my frustration and instinctively I reach for it. I flip open the phone and laugh at a message from my roommate. I glance back up at the road and press on the gas, moving forward again in my car. As I do, I press "reply" on my phone and start to respond, looking back down at my little glowing screen. It's not even three seconds when I glance up again and all I see is the glowing red brake lights of the car in front of me and I know I am way too close. I slam on my brakes but dread consumes me--I know I'm going to hit them.............

Okay, so this didn't really happen to me, but it almost did. I'm sure almost everyone who drives has had a situation where they were distracted while driving and had to quickly hit the brakes to avoid a collision. The scary thing is, more and more people are using cell phones, more and more people are texting, and more and more people are doing it while driving. Here are the current facts and statistics:

• Texting is contributing to increasing amounts of preventable accidents. States around the nation are now taking action. California recently banned texting while driving, starting in 2009. Alaska, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey and Washington have banned texting while driving and at least a dozen other states are currently considering it. A recent high-profile train crash which killed 25 people in California is suspected to be partially caused by distractions from texting.

• A Nationwide Mutual Insurance survey of 1,200 drivers last year reported that one in five drivers admitted to texting while behind the wheel……Data about the risks are difficult to obtain because people often do not want to admit they were texting.

• According to a recent study by AAA on teen texting while driving habits, nearly 46% of teens text while driving….Motor vehicle crashes are the No. 1 killer of teens, claiming more than 6,000 15 to 20 year-olds each year.
  

• In a recent study about text messaging, it was proven that reaction time for a driver is slowed by 35% when texting while driving. What is so startling is that Marijuana users' reaction time was only slowed by 21% and only 12% for drivers who are at the legal alcohol limit (RAC Foundation Report).

Even though I am learning these statistics, it's still hard to not check my phone every time it buzzes or rings. The goal of this project is to understand the thinking of teens and young adults and attempt to reduce automobile accidents and deaths that are the result of this risky behavior. Please, throughout this blog give your feedback. What are your feelings about texting while driving? Have you ever had any close calls?