I was driving back from my internship which I do at least three days a week but today I realized something. Texting and driving is becoming out of control. There was a guy driving in front of me for about 2 miles, I watched him hold his phone in front of his face the entire time. Im not being dramatic. He went into the other lane three times and yes I counted. He also came to a complete stop in the middle of the road because he thought the stoplight was closer than it actually was. So, bottom line he sucked at driving. The National Safety Council reports that cell phone use while driving leads to 1.6 million crashes each year.

Texting and driving is becoming an epidemic, even worse it is completely preventable. Driving is a daily activity, we get behind the wheel without thought. Driving is something that is virtually impossible to avoid. Why don't we as a society want to be safer? 1 out of every 4 traffic crashes are caused by using a cellphone. This was no shock to me. When I moved to a densely populated college area, I saw more traffic crashes due to distracted driving in a two year period than I had my whole life. The University of Utah did a study over three years, and found that people are just as impaired or even more when they drive and talk on a cell phone as they are when they drive intoxicated at the legal blood-alcohol limit which is 0.08%. If you aren't willing to get behind the wheel after a night at the bar, you shouldn't be willing to send that text that can wait... I promise it can wait.

If the statistics aren't enough for you, I have a few thoughts that really hit me. What if YOUR loved one was involved in that 1 out of every 4 crash? What if your loved one got hurt or killed by something that was completely preventable? What if you took someone's mom away from them because you needed to send a text to your own mom? You get the point. I can tell you from experience, it takes mere seconds to be distracted and crash. The day I crashed my car, my whole outlook changed. A car crash should not be required to show the reality of it all.

Don't get me wrong, I know there are emergencies or what if you are on a long trip and need to get in touch with someone? I know that it seems so inconvenient to call someone rather than text them or even pull over to respond. In my opinion, its way more inconvenient to get into a car crash. Florida considers texting and driving a secondary offense. This means that a police officer can not pull you over solely for texting and driving. You will only get charged for texting if you are pulled over for another violation and the officer decides to add it on. I think this needs to change. It should be a primary offense. We have to make a change, all of our lives are in danger.