Do you text and drive?

cameragirl21 wrote: And if so, would this make you stop? (warning, graphic)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGE8LzRaySk..._embedded#t=255

I have to admit, I've texted while driving and while I did not enjoy watching this and think it may be too much for kids, I will certainly think of this next time I feel the urge to text while driving, so for me, it worked...how about you?

luvmykids replied: I do NOT text while driving. Not worth risking my children, myself, or other innocent people on the road with me and it's actually a huge pet peeve of mine , no offense. There is enough truly accidental danger on the road, no need to deliberately do something to add to it. Ok, enough on my soapbox

As graphic as this video is, I think it absolutely should be shown to teens....no sense in sugar coating it. Teen drivers are already a high risk category and need to understand how serious their actions on the road could be.

Insanemomof3 replied: I agree, it SHOULD be shown to teens! I used to text and drive, but not often. And now I never do, I am a driver for the railroad now, and I treat driving as professional as I can, working or not. Not worth the risk of losing my life, someone else's life, or my job. No reason a text can't be returned at a later time.

cameragirl21 replied:
None taken, I have rarely texted while driving and really it's only been at red lights but I think even that is a bad idea because it had me itching to get to the next red light to finish texting and I think it takes attention away from the road. This video will definitely haunt me next time I want to do that, though.
I wonder, though, how effective it would be for teenagers?

luvmykids replied:
It would have to be at least as effective as an instructor saying "Don't text and drive", if not more. And, I think it's a fairly good quality PSA...not as cheesy as some and love that the girls in it are teens too, I think it might sink in being someone they can identify with.

bluebear replied: nope. never will. I won't even answer the phone in the car.
about a month ago I tried texting while driving...on a closed street...it's very hard and I just ended up pulling over. 12 words on your phone isn't worth your life.

boyohboyohboy replied: never

Kentuckychick replied: I absolutely do NOT text while driving. I don't even talk on my phone while I'm driving because I know that I cannot have my full attention on the road while on of my hands is holding a cell phone.

I definitely think this video should be shown to teens, but it doesn't make me fear for the person texting, it makes me fear for myself and everyone else on the road who is doing what they're supposed to be doing while someone else isn't paying attention.

Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, Czech Rep., Denmark, Egypt, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Isreal, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Netherlands, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, S. Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom have already banned hand held cellphone usage...

I think it's time for the entire US to go the way of DC, Conn, and NJ... let's all follow suit.

Nina J replied: No, I don't. Why risk it? I can't imagine any text would be so important as to risk your life and the lives of other drivers and people on and near the roads. And if it is that important, pull over.

Plus, where I live, it is against the law.

Mommy2Isabella replied: Nope!! Not worth it to me ... whatever I need to text can wait until I am at my destination

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: I will once in a blue moon text if I am stopped at a red light but texting while driving is against the law in California.

mom21kid2dogs replied: I don't text & drive. I don't purchase a texting plan so I don't text, period.

My2Beauties replied: When I had my old phone I did it a couple of times because I could literally look at the road and text because that phone was so easy to text with one-handed, my new one isn't at all and I can't do it. The only time I'll text is at a red light, I won't do it while driving. If I have to take my eyes off the road I won't do it. I have to admit, I know I'll get tomatoes thrown for this....honestly though talking on the phone while driving is absolutely not a distraction to me, I have never even had a close call while being on a cell phone. I am able to completely concentrate and talk. I don't do it often because I don't talk on the phone that much in my car anyways jsut because of the times of day I'm driving mostly everyone I know is also getting off of work etc and not talking but when I do I have no problems driving. The one wreck I have been in that was my fault I wasn't on the phone, I was leaving for Vegas the very next day and thinking about everything I had to do that night to get ready and it was really rainy outside, I noticed a red light and didn't stop in enough time with the rain it caused me to hydroplane. Had it not been raining I would have been able to stop in enough time to where the accident would have been prevented, but I just slid right into that poor lady. I was simply distracted because I was thinking about everything. My phone has never distracted me at all.I keep it right in my lap while driving incase it rings. This way I'm not searching through a purse or anything.

cameragirl21 replied: I am constantly talking on the phone while driving, probably 50+% of the time but I always use a bluetooth, never with one hand because I drive stick so I need both hands to drive and plus I just prefer the bluetooth...when my bluetooth needs to be recharged I'll talk on speakerphone (at home, not while driving) because I can't stand hand holding the phone anymore.
I don't necessarily believe that talking on the phone while driving is a distraction as long as you are hands free, that is the law here btw, but even if it weren't I'd do it that way anyway.

DVFlyer replied: I've texted while driving, but it's VERY dangerous and I do not like that I've done it.

That video will not persuade the majority of kids to stop texting. Teenagers are not at a level where they understand personal responsibility. The consequences of their actions are not dire enough to cause them to change.

TheOaf66 replied: i very rarely text period

luvmykids replied:
I saw a show about this recently, they've got actual scientific proof now that teens don't comprehend long term consequences, they can't help it, it's just their physiological make up. That would explain a lot

jakesmommy08 replied: so i debated posting here cuz im sure ill hear an ear full but yes i text. I am a texting freak. BUT I ALSO DONT HAVE TO LOOK AT MY PHONE TO TEXT. (put that in all caps so ppl wouldnt read the first line and start getting mad). I can text like i can talk. It just comes natural. lol. But i also dont drive down the road and never put my phone down either. So yes i do text but i dont go over board with it.

cameragirl21 replied:
Idk if that is entirely true...I mean, I agree that teens definitely have an immortality complex but I recall when I was a teen and my friends and I were talking about whether or not we should DTD for the first time with our various BFs (with whom we thought we were madly in love ) and one of my friends said that she was horribly afraid of becoming pg and I recall her exact words were, "one night of sex is not worth ruining my entire life if I become pg"...we were about 16ish so she did have some sense of personal responsibility and future consequences. I have to say, I think teens would get in a lot more trouble than they do if they had absolutely NO sense of cause and effect. I think they are more inclined to believe they are never going to die and they have a devil may care attitude but I do think they can be somewhat affected by having consequences shoved down their throats.
I recall myself being not so much afraid of becoming pg as I was horribly afraid of AIDS, mainly because they shoved that down our throats in school and my BF was already in college and thereby older and more experienced and I was somehow convinced that everyone in college is exposed to AIDS in some way or another.
edited for a typo

coasterqueen replied: I'll admit it, I have texted while driving. I do not text with the kids in the car because they are enough distraction as it is. There was a new law in IL passed regarding texting, but i haven't looked into it further so I don't know if they've made it illegal or just that they can pull you over for it and give you a ticket for it because of way you would be driving/speeding, etc.

BAC'sMom replied:
Wow that does explain a lot Monica. I have often wondered why kids get to a certain and start saying... What did I do?

To answer to original question no I do not text while driving I hardly ever text period.

DVFlyer replied:
It's a broad statement for sure, but within lies the basis for why, as we get older and take on more responsibility, we take less risks- we have more to lose..... generally speaking.

/sigmund fraud

A&A'smommy replied:
I actually completely agree with you I do NOT think that its all teens I think a LOT of it has to do with how kids are raised (not all) and the kids his/her self.
When I was a teenager we had a friend have an hunting accident and it killed him (hunting is HUGE here) and after that a LOT of kids were more careful while hunting. I never TRIED drugs never got into it because I KNEW that it was dumb and I didn't want to ruin my life, my husband was the same never even tried it (plus he worked around idiots who worked hard labor there entire lives and spent all their money on drugs and he wanted a desk job and a family ). I had a friend that wouldn't even kiss a boy because it could lead to sex and pregnancy and she wanted to save the for when she got married. I could go on and on and maybe teenagers are different now but they cannot say that teenagers don't KNOW they just don't want to know.

Danalana replied: I used to because the letters were on my actual number keypad...I knew where all the letters were and could text without looking. I have an iPhone now and, while I love how quickly I can text on it, there's no way I could do it without looking. It would be really hard to text on it while driving too. So I don't anymore, and I agree that texting is a really bad idea while driving. It's crazy what people do while behind the wheel!

bluebear replied:
Same here, except I would text in class without even looking at my phone since it did not have a full keyboard. Now that I do have a full keyboard phone I can do it without looking but 90% of the time the keys do not press down if you press them fast (you have to go super slow) so now there is no way I could do it while driving.

I think the only thing I've done while driving that is dangerous is drinking a bottle of water!

DansMom replied: I don't. I once texted while in a traffic jam to say that I would be late. The highway was basically a parking lot and nothing was moving. And I still managed to bump the guy in front of me, because my foot eased up off the brake while I was focused on my keypad. That was all the lesson I needed. I also find it difficult to dial and have conversations on the phone while driving---worse with the stick shift of course. I use it only to communicate vital information, and if possible I pull over first.

And then there's the people who are so busy talking they sit for an extended period after the light turns green. I think it's okay to honk in those cases, even though I hate honking because it seems rude.

Danalana replied: Drinking a bottle of water...you ANIMAL!

coasterqueen replied:
I honk any time someone isn't paying attention. Mainly because I believe the it's important in driving a car to pay attention. If they are sitting at a green light staring off in space and not paying attention to their surroundings while their car is in drive...I'm gonna honk.

Cece00 replied: I dont really txt and drive, too hard to pay attention to the road. Maybe @ red lights, but not moving. Its also against the law here.

About the video- I think they should show it to kids. I just watched it & didnt think it was all that graphic, frankly, and dont think its too much for kids. I dont really know that its going to stop them, but maybe it'll stop a few.

bluebear replied:
I too find it alright to honk for that reason. I've been honked at for not going as soon as the light turned green- now why would I go that fast without watching for other morons going through their red lights?

bluebear replied:
I've actually had some trouble with capping the bottle while steering on a curve in the road!

gr33n3y3z replied: I did it once to see how hard it was to do and its not easy at all.
So I just respond back at right lights,stop signs or when I get to where I'm going
I find its just not teens doing this I see ppl. of all ages texting while driving
Perfect example is right here