Public Service Announcement - Please Don't Text and Drive!

While going through my, what feels like, thousands of unread e-mails, I came across the following story that was sent to me by the New Lenox Patch - Story of the Week: Rollover Accident on Delaney and Cedar Roads.  And then I viewed the photo of the accident (http://newlenox.patch.com/articles/story-of-the-week-rollover-accident-o...).

What was the cause of the accident, you may be wondering.  At first, I assumed - incorrectly - that alcohol was involved.  But, no.  It was something that many of us think is much more innocent – texting while driving (is there an acronym for this?  TWD?).  Will County Sheriff's Department spokesperson noted that a 21 year old male was ticketed for texting while driving and for failure to reduce speed to avoid an accident. 

Fortunately, both parties involved in the accident are doing fine and don’t appear to have life-threatening injuries.  But, without sounding like an after school PBS special, this accident could have been so much worse.  And, it could have involved a car with you, your children, or your loved ones in it.  Shudder.

It makes me wonder – what was so important that this young man needed to text about?  Was he texting his buddies about where to meet up that Friday evening?  Was he texting his girlfriend to simply say “hello”?  I guess it doesn’t really matter.  He shouldn’t have been texting and driving.  Period.

Did you know that a texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a collision than a non-texting driver?  The average text takes a driver’s eyes off the road for nearly five seconds. When traveling at 55mph, that’s enough time to cover the length of a football field. I want to convey the following message to you:  texting while driving isn’t multitasking, it’s essentially driving blind.

Let’s all stop – myself included, because I can’t honestly say I have never texted while driving – and keep our roads a little bit safer. 

As always, please don’t hesitate to contact any of us at Langlois Insurance Agency with any questions or comments!

www.langloisinsurance.com