Before I begin on this topic, I want to say I have never personally experienced any predicaments with a distracted driver. It is just something I see a lot lately and it’s been weighing heavy on my heart.

As I am driving down the road or the freeway, I’m often paying attention to those driving around me and in front of me to make sure I am secure on all sides of the vehicle. One thing that I have noticed, and still often see, are people driving distractedly. In other words, texting while driving. I get it. It is “important” or “interesting," but as a slogan I often see around says, “it can wait.”

Why can it wait, you ask? Because as important as that text might seem, nothing is as important as another person’s life, as well as your own.

According to textinganddrivingsafety.com, in 2011 over 1.3 million car accidents were caused by a driver who was texting while driving their vehicle. Thus, not only putting themselves in danger, but ultimately those around them. When reading or sending a text message, the total span that the driver is distracted is five-seconds and often times even more.

Think about that for a moment, and while you are thinking about that don’t forget to factor in the overwhelming amount of cars that surround you at times and even the speed you are driving at. Now with that being said, think of the devastation you’ll cause yourself, the person in the other car(s) and the families that are involved, all because you or somebody else decided to pick up that measly device that, in the long run, will always be replaceable.

I wanted to talk about this because recently I have passed a few accidents while driving down the freeway or street that I later heard were caused by distracted drivers, and that not only frightens me because if I was just a few minutes earlier that could have been me involved, a family or even a close friend and that isn’t something that I enjoy thinking about as I’m driving, because quite frankly it just shouldn’t be a thought in my mind or anyone’s mind, if people just chose to put their phones down and paid attention to the road.