Are your kids ever in a car while the driver is texting?

[RodO]

For their sake, and your's and our's, please send this to them:

YouTube- Broadcast Yourself.

Rod.

[Motza]

That's really upsetting,
This should be aired in our country on TV as a public service annoncement, (especially the music video stations like MTV, VH1 etc...)

That commercial should be manditory to watch prior to getting your drivers permit.

[ElkSpyder]

That's really upsetting,
This should be aired in our country on TV as a public service annoncement, (especially the music video stations like MTV, VH1 etc...)

That commercial should be manditory to watch prior to getting your drivers permit.

:agree: and after your get your drivers permit, you have to watch at annually.

[RodO]

This PSA has made national news up here in Canada is making news elsewhere:

<http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/09/02/texting-driving-video-gwent-dangers.html>

British video on texting risk a hit
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 six million times on YouTube and other websites 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.

Talking on a hand-held mobile phone and texting while driving are both illegal in Britain.

"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.

In Canada, the Saskatchewan government said earlier this week it plans to ban texting and handheld cellphone use while driving, following similar legislation already in place in other provinces, including Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador.

Texting increases risk of collision 23 times: study

Recent studies suggest text messages may be more distracting to drivers than talking on the phone.

Research by British motorists' group the RAC Foundation found that texting slowed young drivers' reaction times by 35 per cent, more than drugs or alcohol.

A study of truck drivers released last month by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that texting increased the risk of collision by 23 times — significantly more than the increase from talking on a cellphone.

Gwent Chief Const. Mick Giannasi said the issues in the film "are as relevant to the people of Tennessee as they are to the residents of Tredegar," the Welsh town where it was shot.

"Texting and driving can have tragic consequences and the more this film is viewed, the better," he said.

"Young people think they can text on autopilot because they do it so instinctively — for that reason, we need to use strong imagery to get them to sit up and take notice."

Britain has a long tradition of hard-hitting public service ads, shown on television, radio, in movie theatres and more recently on the internet.

One recent anti-speeding ad showed the bloodied and mangled body of a young girl who has been hit by a car. Another, discouraging binge-drinking, showed a young man in a superhero costume falling to his death.

While most comments posted in response to the Gwent police video praised its impact, some questioned whether such graphic images are necessary, or an effective deterrent.

Watkins-Hughes said he hoped his film would help make "text-driving" as socially unacceptable as driving while drunk.

"If we can get one person to change their behaviour, then it will have been worthwhile," he said.

[RodO]

<http://www.cbc.ca/canada/saskatchewan/story/2009/09/01/cell-texting-ban.html>

Sask. to ban texting, cellphone use while driving
Last Updated: Tuesday, September 1, 2009 | 2:24 PM CT
CBC News
Concerned about safety on the roads, the Saskatchewan government says it plans to ban texting and handheld cellphone use while driving.

Legislation could be introduced as soon as this fall, Premier Brad Wall said Tuesday.

"Given the very compelling numbers, the danger that we know that it is, the increased risk of accident, I think it's something we need to look at carefully and potentially bring legislation forward this fall," Wall said.

The move comes a day after Saskatoon Police Chief Clive Weighill called for a ban on cellphone use by people operating motor vehicles. Weighill said there are just too many accidents where cell phone use is a contributing factor.

Other provinces, including Nova Scotia, Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador, have already brought in similar bans.

Officials in those provinces have expressed concerns that texting and talking on cellphones is dangerous.

:clap:

[Roaddog2]

Around here well NYC a girl just walked into a open Manhole while texting :ani29:
:agree:This should be on American TV but A.T.T. Verizon and all the other big companies have are Senate and Congress on a string :ani29:

[retread]

There's an article in Car and Driver I think month before last, about texting compared to drinking, guess which one is worse.

john