By Rob Wheary
SHAMOKIN - While PennDOT officials work to make roadways safer, they are battling an "epidemic" of distracted driving.
That's how Rick Mason, District 3 public relations officer, described the problem, much of it focused on texting while driving.
"Last year in Pennsylvania, there were more than 14,000 accidents that involved distracted driving with 57 deaths," Mason said. "Over the last five years, 11 percent of the crashes in Pennsylvania involved distracted drivers with more than 300 deaths attributed to them."
With Pennsylvania heading into the construction season, PennDOT officials cannot stress enough that drivers need to pay attention.
"Whether it be texting, talking on your cell phone, even a hands-free cell phone, it's not worth the risk. You could be the safest driver in the world and something could happen that you have no control over," Mason said.
So what about hands-free calling?
"Studies have shown that talking on a cell phone, whether it be hands-free or handheld, uses a certain part of the brain that causes a distraction, more so than listening to the radio or talking to the person next to you," he said.
Even adjusting the radio is considered a distraction. Adjust it before starting out, he suggested.
Thumb bands
Organizations appear to be getting the message and are helping get the word out. District 3 Executive Sandra Tosca noted her attendance at a recent chamber of commerce meeting where a student group was handing out thumb bands with a safety message on them as a reminder to keep both hands on the wheel.
"I thought that was a clever idea to get the point across," she said.
"No text is worth a life," Mason added.