How Dangerous is Texting while Driving?
LONDON - A graphic British public service announcement about the dangers of sending text messages while driving has become an Internet hit and sparked debate around the world. The Gwent police force in Wales said Wednesday that an excerpt from a video it made for use in schools has been viewed more than 6 million times on YouTube and other Web sites since it was posted last month.
The 30-minute film shows a bubbly teenager named Cassie - "a nice girl from a nice Gwent Valleys family" - who triggers a pileup that kills four people when she tries to send a text message while driving. The graphic, slow-motion depiction of the crash shows heads going through windshields, bloodied bodies and the lifeless eyes of a baby. "The film is hitting home because it has a hard edge and it taps into something that lots of people do but know they shouldn't," said the film's director, Peter Watkins-Hughes.
The film has been discussed on television shows in the United States, where more than a dozen states have banned text messaging while driving and where legislation is before Congress that would forces states to ban drivers from texting or emailing.
Recent studies suggest text messages may be more distracting to drivers than talking on the phone. Talking on a hand-held mobile phone and texting while driving are both illegal in Britain.
VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGE8LzRaySk
The 30-minute film shows a bubbly teenager named Cassie - "a nice girl from a nice Gwent Valleys family" - who triggers a pileup that kills four people when she tries to send a text message while driving. The graphic, slow-motion depiction of the crash shows heads going through windshields, bloodied bodies and the lifeless eyes of a baby. "The film is hitting home because it has a hard edge and it taps into something that lots of people do but know they shouldn't," said the film's director, Peter Watkins-Hughes.
The film has been discussed on television shows in the United States, where more than a dozen states have banned text messaging while driving and where legislation is before Congress that would forces states to ban drivers from texting or emailing.
Recent studies suggest text messages may be more distracting to drivers than talking on the phone. Talking on a hand-held mobile phone and texting while driving are both illegal in Britain.
VIDEO CONTAINS GRAPHIC MATERIAL http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGE8LzRaySk
Any instrument that distracts driving is what I consider dangerous. Texting while driving is another way of indangering you and others. It distracts, and causes a driver to more likely to cause an accident. People still play that dangerous hand in texting behind the wheel. It's distrubing!