British Texting While Driving PSA Will Make You Think Twice, Squirm
Britain isn't fooling around when it comes to texting while behind the wheel, and a recent PSA attempts to — and does! — drive that point home.
A tipster passed along this video which, as CNN anchor Don Lemon points out, is very disturbing. And for many reasons.
First, the commercial does a great job filling its viewers with dread: happy, go-lucky teens having an afternoon of gossip obviously careen toward disaster. Second, once that disaster hits, it goes on, and on, and on. There's shattered glass, blood, bones breaking. Then, as if that's not enough, a small child and dead parents are introduced. Seriously, don't watch this if you don't want to be severely, perhaps irreparably damaged.
That said, we must admit it's very effective. And you can be damn sure we won't be texting and driving in the near future. It's so unsettling, in fact, that some wonder if it should have been aired at all. We think it should be, because, as seen in that now classic Canadian PSA in which a young sous chef is scalded beyond recognition, people need to be reminded that accidents — or "unintended consequences," as CNN guest Michael Sinclair refers to such situations — scar, maim, and kill people everyday.
In fact, according to Sinclair, who comes from the Automobile Club of New York, drivers are 23 times more likely to have "unintended consequences" while texting. Chew on that! (Just don't do it while you're driving.)