Texting ban only a start in fighting distracted driving

We've already been convinced enough of the danger of texting while driving to outlaw the practice in Nebraska, and there is good reason.

According to information gathered by Nationwide insurance:

* Distraction from cell phone use while driving (hand held or hands free) extends a driver's reaction time as much as having a blood alcohol concentration at the legal limit of .08 percent.

* The No. 1 source of driver inattention is use of a wireless device.

* Drivers who use cell phones are four times as likely to get into crashes serious enough to injure themselves.

* 10 percent of drivers age 16 to 24 years old are on their phone at any one time.

* Driving while distracted is a factor in 25 percent of police reported crashes.

* Driving while using a cell phone reduces the amount of brain activity associated with driving by 37 percent.

Fortunately, some teens are taking the lead in persuading their peers to shut up, put down the cell phone and pay attention to their driving.

Starla Henderson, Grayce Jorgensen and Cory Merrigan of the Medicine Valley Family Career and Community Leaders of America Chapter brought in Trooper Doug Petty from the Nebraska State Patrol for a special assembly recently to make the point.

The trooper spoke about the dangers of texting while driving, then let them try out their texting skills while negotiating an obstacle course on a tricycle.

Students later viewed an AT&T video, "The Last Text," and saw posters featuring partial texts sent moments before a crash, and had the opportunity to take an anti-texting pledge.

Of course, texting is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to distracted driving, and adults are certainly not immune. How many of us eat or drink -- nonalcoholic beverages -- while driving, set or change our GPS, read a map, fix our hair, apply makeup or shave while cruising down the road, surfed the Internet on your smartphone or dragged ourselves into the driver's seat short on sleep?

This year's Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas features all sorts of mobile communication and entertainment technology, from cloud-based music and video delivery to smartphone car controls and dashboards that are a videogame in themselves.

Until cars become sophisticated enough to drive themselves -- will we ever trust them to do that? -- inventors seem intent on providing bigger and better distractions to keep drivers from doing their job.

It will take a concentrated effort and determination to keep our eyes on the road and brain on the task at hand when we get behind the wheel in the years to come.