One…two…three. You’re dead. Three seconds of driver inattention is all it takes for a driver to be in a fatal accident.

“Eighty percent of all crashes and 65 percent of all near-crashes, recently studied by the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, involved driver inattention within three seconds of the crash,” according to Drive Smart Virginia. April 28th was Distracted Driving Awareness day in Virginia.

Statistics show texting while driving makes a person 23 times more likely to be in a car collision. Junior Mike Parrish says he has “never” texted while driving. “I think it would be awesome to continue living while I’m driving,” Parrish continued.

Sophomore Kayla Brown says “no” to texting and driving. “I’m not very good at texting and walking, so texting and driving is just not something I feel the need to try.”

“I text my mom and dad and sometimes my friends if it’s important,” said junior Zach Baker.

“I’ve only texted [while driving] once or twice, but only at a stop sign or stop light and just to say ‘okay’ or ‘I’m on my way’,” commented sophomore Elias Brice.

Talking on a cell phone while driving makes a person 4 times more likely to be involved in an accident. Parrish says “yes” he has talked on the phone while driving, but it is not a regular occurrence for him. Parrish adds, “Driving and talking on the phone is a bad combination.”

“Only once [have I talked on the phone while driving], and it was because I was really lost,” said Brice.

“I prefer to text, but if I’m performing an evasive maneuver I have to make a call,” commented Baker.

A person is four times more likely to be in a car crash if he or she drives while drowsy. “I actually drove drowsy with my driving instructor; he noticed it and immediately and made me eat something,” commented Parrish.

“If I’m driving for a long time I’ll get tired, but I just chew gum and open a window to stay up,” stated Brown.

Some people do some pretty strange things while driving; teens talk about what they’ve seen other people do while driving. “[The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen someone do while driving was] driving with one leg out the window and reading; it just didn’t make sense to me,” said Brown.

“[The weirdest thing I’ve ever seen someone do while driving was] transferring one gallon of water to another (one had a flip top and one had a screw top) on a major highway,” commented Brice.

Many accidents can be avoided if people put their phones away and pay attention to the road while they drive. Go to Oprah.com and take the No Phone Zone pledge to become part of the solution.