For Heaven's Sake, Don't Text and Drive!

We already know that texting while operating a moving train can lead to tragedy. You don't have much control over situations like that, but you can damn well put down the phone when you're behind the wheel.

Need some motivation? A new study shows that you're 23 times more likely to crash your car while texting.

Here's the scoop, according to this landmark study from the Virginia Tech Transportation Institute (as reported by the New York Times):

In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices -- enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field.

Compared with other sources of driver distraction, "texting is in its own universe of risk," said Rich Hanowski, who oversaw the study at the institute, which is affiliated with Virginia Tech.

I also have family members who've been known to text behind the wheel. It's bad enough that distracted drivers might kill themselves; they might kill others as well.

So stop and ask yourself: Is the message you're sending -- or reading -- really so important that you're willing to risk lives over it? Or can it wait until you're able to pull over? Heck, call the person if you need to communicate that badly.

Even better, use a voice-operated service like Dial2Do, Jott, or reQall. All three can turn your spoken words into e-mails or text messages.

In the meantime, how does this study impact your thoughts on our recent Guy Vs. Guy debate on banning cell-phone use while driving? Me, I'm even more sold: Anyone caught texting while driving should lose their license on the spot. Seriously.