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Texting Accident PSA is Graphic, but Effective

A Public Service Announcement message video featuring a car accident caused by a text messaging teen, has gone viral on YouTube, and has already had more than 1 million views on the popular video sharing portal. There has been criticism that the video is too graphic, but  California car accident lawyers and advocates of stronger laws against cell phone use behind the wheel politely disagree.

The video was created by the Gwent Police Department in Wales. The officials at the police department were concerned about the rising number of accidents caused by motorists texting  at the wheel. They collaborated with a film maker to create the Public Service Announcement. The video shows a teen motorist driving with her friends. She is text messaging, and crashes her car into another vehicle. The car is then broadsided by another car. The crash kills four people in all, but the driver survives. The video doesn’t hold back, showing the impact of the crash as the teen passengers are tossed about in their car. It makes a strong impression, and has shaken enough people for the video to become wildly popular. In our country however, there has been some criticism of the Public Service Announcement because of its graphic nature.

Consider this. Drivers using a cell phone device at the wheel are up to 4 times more likely than others to cause an accident with serious injuries and fatalities. Tens of thousands of accidents nationwide are traced to cell phone use.  Last year, 25 people died in a horrific Metrolink train accident near Chatsworth, Los Angeles. Dozens more were injured, many of them very seriously. The Metrolink train crashed head-on into a Union Pacific train after the train engineer, who also died in the crash, allegedly ran a stop light. The reason for him missing the stop sign? Text messaging. Cell phone records of the operator of the Metrolink train showed that he was exchanging text messages in the minutes before the accident. Earlier this year, a trolley accident in Boston left more than 50 people injured, many of them seriously. There were no fatalities in that accident which was traced to the operator of the trolley, text messaging at the time of the crash.

A study by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute earlier this year shows that drivers who are text messaging, are likely to take their eyes off the road for more than 4 seconds. It also said that these drivers had a chance of being involved in an accident that was 23 times greater than motorists not text messaging at the wheel.  With statistics like this, it makes no sense that people should object to a video that doesn’t hold back while describing the dangers of text messaging while driving. The “don’t text and drive” message has not been drilled into the public consciousness like it needs to be. Only a few states have text messaging bans in place, including California, and in many of these states, the bans are not properly enforced.

The NHTSA must consider having stronger PSA’s like this one.  If these can help jolt even one motorist out of his complacency and prevent a fatality, it would be worth it.

The Reeves Law Group is a law firm with offices throughout California dedicated exclusively to the representation of personal injury victims, including victims of car accidents. Please visit our website at trlglaw.com. If you desire a free consultation on a personal injury matter, please call us at (800) 644-8000 or email us.

The Reeves Law Group is not acting as legal counsel for any party in the matters discussed in this posting.

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