A public service announcement filmed in the UK on the consequences of texting while driving is making the rounds on the Internet. While some are concerned about its graphic content, the filmmakers and police department of Gwent, Wales, hope this will be a wake-up call to the dangers of participating in one of the most widespread causes of automobile accidents among young people today.
The video depicts three teens in a car, driving down the road. The driver, Cassie Cowan, is texting another friend, while her two passengers are giving her conflicting information about whether to stop texting or to continue on. While the three friends argue, the car slips over the median, the girls unaware of their predicament until a car horn makes them look up into the headlights of an oncoming car. Thanks to high-end computer graphics and slow-motion filming, the crash is shown in very realistic detail, as glass shatters, airbags are deployed, and the bodies of the passengers are tossed around inside the vehicle like rag dolls. As the cars finally skid to a broken stop on the road, the driver looks over to the passenger...in time to see a second car approaching. Another crash, showing even more damage, and some very gruesome sound effects. The outcome of this disaster is that four people die in the crash, all because somebody felt it was more important to send a text message to a friend than pay attention to the road while driving.
Police in Gwent were expecting to show the video in schools in and around the immediate area as a deterrent to texting while driving. Eventually they hoped to expand to other parts of Wales and the UK. What they got was worldwide exposure as the video went from their own Web site to others, including YouTube.
You can see the full video
here ; but please be warned that it is very graphic and may not be suitable for younger children. Adults who are sensitive to young children being injured may want to forego seeing the video as well.
Some will complain about the graphic footage. However, if a video like this will wake up a few people and make them realize how deadly texting while driving can be, I believe it's worth it.
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