Hot on the heels of a Texas campaign designed to raise awareness about motorcycle safety, the city of Houston has launched an initiative that aims to get people talking about that go-to public menace: texting while driving.
The campaign is a joint effort by the Houston Police Department, the Fire Department, State Farm Insurance, and Clear Channel Outdoor, whose billboards are being used at a discounted rate so that commuters can see the warnings the various departments have designed.
Those billboards are going to be visible in 20 different locations until May. They will each say, “Texting Distracts- Watch the Road!”
In 2011 alone, officials with the city have estimated that 30 deaths were the result of a driver being distracted while behind the wheel. Distracted driving was also a likely contributor to as many as 8,000 injuries and 30,000 crashes.
A ban on texting while driving was set to go into effect last year across the entire state of Texas, but the governor vetoed the ban, saying the government doesn’t have the right to control an adult’s behavior in such a way.
As a San Bernardino personal injury attorney, I’m glad to see awareness brought to this serious topic, especially in a state that still allows the practice of texting while driving. In my time as a car accident attorney in San Bernardino, I’ve seen a number of accidents that could have been avoided had a distraction not presented itself, and efforts like these go a long way toward curbing such dangerous behavior.