This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2013, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Drinking and driving has long been an issue in our society, but now there's a new danger: driving while using a cellphone.
It may seem harmless to talk to a friend on the phone on your way home from work, or to text that you're on your way. But 23 percent of all traffic crashes involve cellphone use — 1.3 million crashes a year because of cellphones
Most crashes, 1.2 million, involved drivers using cellphones for conversations, 12 times as many crashes as with texting. In these crashes, many people have died, and even more have been injured.
So hang up the phone, quit surfing the net and text when you get there, for your safety and everyone's around you.
Douglass Gosselin
Salt Lake City