Distracted driving is a major cause for accidents in the state of Texas, as much as 17.4% of all accidents are the result a driver being distracted.

Bob Colwell is the Public Information Officer for the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT), and during an interview he explained the seriousness of distracted drivers on Texas roads.

In the State of Texas, driving distracted can be defined by many things, such as:

–texting and talking on a mobile phone
–eating and drinking,
–putting on makeup,
–shaving,
–reading,
–programming a navigation system,
–watching a video
–adjusting the radio

Many people have engaged in at least one of these activities at some point in their life while driving, with the year 2019 seeing 378 deaths simply because a driver was not paying close enough attention.

To add more clarity to the impact distracted driving is making in Texas, 97,583 accidents were considered to involve distracted driving in 2019, and the number of accidents went up 1.5% from 2018 to 2019.

The problem is serious enough that the State of Texas started the “Heads up, Texas” campaign as a call-to-action to encourage drivers to keep their heads up and pay attention to the road while driving according to Colwell.

Part of the reason this problem is so important is clearly because of the number of fatalities, but the number of accidents alone cannot be ignored.

Numbers of accidents affect more than just the people involved, it can change insurance rates, cause a financial struggle when a car is totaled and not paid off, and even cause the people involved to suffer a form of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

In 2017 Texas enacted a state law that prohibits drivers from reading, writing or sending an electronic message while on mobile phones when they’re driving.

Each city in the state has the legal right to regulate whether it is legal to talk or use a cell phone while driving.

At this point in Texas, a first offense for texting while driving is punishable by a fine up to $99; any other offenses carry a fine up to $200.

Places such as school zones, near a hospital, church, fire station, and police stations are far more likely to have either a vehicle rapidly moving and/or heavier pedestrian traffic.

While humans have always had the ability to be distracted, the number and types of things to be distracted by seems to be increasing at a rapid rate.

In fact, research has shown that, using a voice-to-text program, hands-free device or a handheld one, distraction affects your driving.

You’re more likely to miss sights and sounds that could help you avoid a crash.

If your attention is on the conversation at hand, then it’s not on the road ahead where it needs to be, as per a study in 2014 explained by Colwell.

Colwell’s words, “The best we can do is put down the phone while driving,” are a good and lasting reminder for everyone, to do exactly that.