You Can Text or You Can Drive, But You Can't Do Both. No, Not Even You

The authorities told us doing it while driving was dangerous, but we knew better, so we ignored the advice. Soon enough, using the phone at the wheel became illegal, and even though that included texting as well, nobody really bothered with that.

Then, smartphones came along and changed everything. All of a sudden you had an internet connection, a full keyboard, and apps such as Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger. Texting became the norm, but even without the blight of having to press a button multiple times to get a specific letter, typing was still much more distracting than actually speaking on the phone.

Both activities take one of your hands off the wheel and your mind off the sole activity you should be focusing on at the moment, which is driving. However, texting is even worse than engaging in a conversation, because writing a message requires you to take your eyes off the road for a long period of time.

People have devised all sorts of methods to go around this problem, but they're only fooling themselves. Some seem to think that holding the phone in front of their eyes so that the road is still within their peripheral view works, but the thousands of death every year related to drivers texting would disagree.

Of course, young drivers are more likely to be involved in texting-related accidents, so a few smart people at Responsible Young Drivers came up with an idea. They realized that the best way of convincing young aspiring drivers just how dangerous mixing these two activities can be is actually forcing them to do it.

This video has been around for a while, but that doesn't make the problem it raises any less stringent right now. People are texting and driving and dying as we speak, so this clip is as genuine as ever. Besides, even if this footage is rigged and overexaggerated, the idea itself is brilliant.

If learning drivers were showed first-hand just how dangerous driving and texting is, they would at least think twice before doing it later on. If it saved at leas one life, then the effort would be worth it.