A recent article in the Houston Chronicle again highlights a problem that every driver on our roads sees every day… Use of cell phones while driving. The article cites a study that shows cell phone use by drivers was monitored as high as 1 out of 12 drivers at the location monitored which was up from an already staggering 1 out of 20 drivers several years before. The full article is here.

While the article references the Houston area, those of us in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex know from our own experiences that a similar epidemic exists throughout the state. The article specifically mentions how late our state was in adopting a weak ban, which allows cell phone use for a variety of other reasons when driving, and reluctance of law officers to prosecute the infractions that we all see every time we drive.

I suspect that as time goes, texting or looking at a cell phone when driving will slowly become less and less socially acceptable just has occurred with driving without seatbelts or smoking in public places. When it becomes socially unacceptable, this epidemic of needless bloodshed will start to fade. Until that day comes, please do your part in keeping our streets and highways safe by resisting the temptation to take that call or read that text when behind the wheel.