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Clearly, there is no love in texting while driving!

Contrary to what I鈥檝e heard from teens who admit to texting while driving a car in motion, it is not impolite or mean not to answer a friend鈥檚 text while driving a car! It鈥檚 just plain intelligent. And if a friend, relative, or anyone else who calls or texts you when they think you might be driving, they are not loving you. They are endangering you.

Here鈥檚 why: One new study, by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), found that distracted driving is the No. 1 cause of teen deaths and another one, by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, found that using digital devices is the No. 1 cause of distracted driving. Put those two findings together, and there is truly no excuse for 鈥� and not one ounce of love or wisdom in 鈥� either texting while driving a car or encouraging someone to do so by texting them when they鈥檙e driving.

The AAA study found that 鈥渢alking on the phone [hands-free too] or texting while driving was the most common behavior that distracted young drivers, more so than adjusting controls, grooming, eating or drinking, or engaging in horseplay or loud conversations with passengers.鈥�

Entitled 鈥淒istracted Driving Among Newly Licensed Teen Drivers,鈥� the study was conducted by researchers at the University of North Carolina and was the first 鈥渢o use in-car video recordings to study teen distracted driving,鈥� CBS News reported. The video clips were recorded 鈥渋nside the cars of 50 families.鈥� Recording was 鈥渢riggered by certain events 鈥� sudden braking, an abrupt turn 鈥� during unsupervised driving鈥� by both new drivers and 鈥渙lder, more experienced sibling drivers 鈥� resulting in 24,085 driving clips of 52 teens taken over a six-month period,鈥� CBS News reported.

The NHTSA says 鈥渢he average text takes our eyes off the road for five seconds 鈥� at 55 MPH, enough time to travel the length of a football field 鈥� so it isn鈥檛 surprising that a texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a crash than a non-texting driver,鈥� even though 75 percent of young adult drivers are confident they can safely text while driving. The NHTSA study found that 32 percent of young adults who drive while distracted 鈥渄on鈥檛 think anything bad will happen,鈥� 22 percent say 鈥渋t makes driving less boring,鈥� and 34 percent say they鈥檙e used to multitasking.

So we ConnectSafely.org folk asked some teens here in California why they think people are so casual about texting while driving, and we heard a range of responses like (I鈥檓 paraphrasing)鈥�.

鈥淭echnology is my life 鈥� why should I put my life on hold just because I鈥檓 driving a car?鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 rude not to answer a text鈥� 鈥� suggesting that it鈥檚 not socially acceptable to 鈥渋gnore鈥� someone, and driving doesn鈥檛 change that. It鈥檚 scary to think it may already be a 鈥渟ocial norm鈥� to respond to a text while driving.

鈥淭exting is who I am. It鈥檚 even more than self-expression and definitely more than just communication. Why would I take time out from that?鈥�

When asked about how this is different from drinking and driving, or DUI (to which our society has managed to attach a stigma or at least awareness), teens told us that alcohol abuse is risky anytime, anywhere, while texting isn鈥檛. So the two behaviors are entirely different, they told us.

Those comments illustrated for me the challenge we have ahead of us as a society, in changing a highly risky behavior in which some young people (and probably some adults too) seem even to take pride.

We were very successful in raising awareness about driving under the influence of alcohol and creating the norm of having a 鈥渄esignated driver.鈥�

But this is different. It isn鈥檛 just a sequel to that public campaign. So we need to be creative and, above all, create a campaign around facts, not fear.

What will help? Getting everybody to understand there鈥檚 no love in texting while driving? Yes? No? What else? Please comment with ideas or stories about what has helped in your families and social circles!