YouTube dramatizes danger of texting and driving

William Atkins
Wednesday, 02 September 2009 18:18

Opinion and Analysis

A YouTube video from a police department in Gwent, Wales, dramatically shows the dangers of texting while driving a motorized vehicle.


Its extreme graphic nature may not suited for everyone. On the other hand, people who text and drive should view it to see the extreme danger you bring to yourself and to your fellow motorists.

The YouTube video is titled “PSA Texting and Driving, U.K., August 2009, (HQ) Master Original Video.”

Go to YouTube.com, insert the title into Search, and view the video.

According to the Associated Press (AP) article Graphic British safety video is an Internet hit, “The 30-minute film shows a bubbly teenager named Cassie — "a nice girl from a nice Gwent Valleys family" — who triggers a pileup that kills four people when she tries to send a text message while driving. The graphic, slow-motion depiction of the crash shows heads going through windshields, bloodied bodies and the lifeless eyes of a baby.”

The film’s director, Peter Watkins-Hughes, states, "The film is hitting home because it has a hard edge and it taps into something that lots of people do but know they shouldn't.” [AP]

Texting and driving is illegal in England. More and more states in the United States are banning text messaging while driving motorized vehicles.

The U.S. Congress is considering the banning of texting or e-mailing while driving throughout the United States.

Other countries around the world are also debating whether to make texting illegal while driving.

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