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| It can wait: Texting while driving can cause fatal accidents |
Losing a loved one in an accident is a very painful experience especially if the accident is caused by something as mundane and easily avoidable as text messaging or texting.
With our society’s dependence on communication gadgets, texting while driving has become an unwanted distraction that have caused several car accidents; and students from a local university wants to prove and send an important message across.
Students at the University of South Carolina had a simulated look at texting while driving and how it can lead to unnecessary car accidents when AT&T allowed students to try out their simulator recently. The effort is part of the telecommunication company’s “It Can Wait” campaign.
The three dimensional simulator lets students get behind the wheel while they interact with realistic text messages that appear on a smart phone hooked into the machine. It simulates what could happen as students attempt to read or message back to texts that appear as they drive. Many call the experience frightening after suffering simulated accident scenarios.
The campaign comes at a time when the National Safety Council reported that 100,000 crashes occur each year involving unfocused drivers who are texting. Many of these drivers cause life-changing injuries and wrongful deaths to themselves, their passengers and other motorists or pedestrians.
Students at the University of South Carolina had a simulated look at texting while driving and how it can lead to unnecessary car accidents when AT&T allowed students to try out their simulator recently. The effort is part of the telecommunication company’s “It Can Wait” campaign.
The three dimensional simulator lets students get behind the wheel while they interact with realistic text messages that appear on a smart phone hooked into the machine. It simulates what could happen as students attempt to read or message back to texts that appear as they drive. Many call the experience frightening after suffering simulated accident scenarios.
The campaign comes at a time when the National Safety Council reported that 100,000 crashes occur each year involving unfocused drivers who are texting. Many of these drivers cause life-changing injuries and wrongful deaths to themselves, their passengers and other motorists or pedestrians.
According to experts, texting while driving has a 23 percent probability of causing accidents.
The best advice is to stop, pull over or wait until destination is reached before text messaging or replying to any messages. This also includes answering phone calls and surfing the internet.
Currently, state legislators are considering proposed bills that could ban such activities with the growing cases of accidents resulting from texting while driving. While the legal process of putting a law takes a while, experts are asking the public to do the right thing, that is, to wait.
About The Author
Victor Dela Casa
is a Filipino-Canadian who spent over a decade working as a business
professional in Canada. Worked in IT, finance, marketing, international
trade, public service, project management and the maritime industry.
Earned degree in Economics from the University of the Philippines and
Business Administration Honours from Eastern College. Currently based in
the Philippines and working as a professional writer for a
multi-national business processes firm.
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