Letter: Texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving

Ten years ago, my car was nearly T-boned when a driver talking on a cellphone didn’t look for traffic before entering a roundabout. Although talking on a phone while driving is dangerous, the greater threat today is texting.

Texting takes the driver’s eyes off the road, and even a few seconds of inattention can cause an accident. Whenever I read that a car “crossed the center line” before a crash, I assume the driver was either drunk or texting.

Texting is more dangerous than drunk driving. Why? Because someone who binge-drinks and drives home on a Saturday night is taking a risk, but not every day. Young people with smartphones, on the other hand, can’t seem to put them down, even when doing the one thing that requires more of their undivided attention than their trigonometry class.

Some teens and adults are texting behind the wheel nearly every time they operate a car. I see them in the next lane, putting me and other drivers at risk. They do it because they get away with it — until the one time that they don’t! And when that time comes, it may be the last thing they ever do.

This story was originally published May 22, 2016 at 1:35 AM with the headline "Letter: Texting while driving is more dangerous than drunk driving."