It seems that a reminder is needed for those in our community who still can’t help but text and drive. We see so many people disregarding public safety during our morning commute to the office, so maybe these statistics will help illustrate the dangers of distracted driving.

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s website, distracted driving claimed 3,142 lives in 2020.

“Distracted driving is any activity that diverts attention from driving, including talking or texting on your phone, eating and drinking, talking to people in your vehicle, fiddling with the stereo, entertainment or navigation system — anything that takes your attention away from the task of safe driving,” the NHTSA website states. “Texting is the most alarming distraction. Sending or reading a text takes your eyes off the road for 5 seconds. At 55 mph, that’s like driving the length of an entire football field with your eyes closed.”

The website www.donttextdrive.com states that individuals who drive while sending or reading text messages are 23 times more likely to be involved in a car crash than other drivers. A crash typically happens within an average of three seconds after a driver is distracted.

The United States Department of Transportation notes that cell phones are involved in 1.6 million auto crashes each year that cause a half million injuries and take 6,000 lives.

One last one — according to the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, texting while driving is six times more likely to cause an auto crash than driving when intoxicated.

We view these numbers as both tragic and extremely unnecessary. No text message is so important that it can’t wait until you are safely off of the road. Consider those around you, and maybe start driving as though the people sharing the road are your friends and family — they just might be.