Your Periodic Reminder That Texting While Driving is the Worst
This new anti-distracted driving video has the Internet riled up.
Using a cell phone while driving is dumb and dangerous as hell. Hardly news, but it doesn’t seem to be resonating for some reason. In 2014, more than 430,000 were injured in car crashes involving distracted drivers. Meanwhile, the number of people texting or otherwise fiddling with a phone the wheel increased between 2013 and 2014, from 1.7 to 2.2 percent, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Which is totally and completely insane.
Teenagers and twenty-somethings are particularly bad about distracted driving. So, in a masterstroke of targeted campaigns, the producers of Summer Break, the YouTube reality show that follows a group of graduating and incoming seniors at two California high schools, whipped up this video. The setup is basic: A bubbly confessional, with the cast admitting to their (terrifying) phone use while driving. Then, they’re introduced to a 21-year old whose car was hit by a distracted driver, leaving her partially paralyzed and killing both her parents. The story is even more horrific once you find out the accident occurred as they were driving home from her college graduation ceremony. Because, above dumb and dangerous, texting behind the wheel mostly just makes you selfish.
As of 7:00 p.m. EST on Friday, the video has more than 5 million views. That's a big deal. You can share it from Summer Break’s Facebook page here, or watch it below.
