Recent studies show texting isn’t the only danger behind the wheel

The campaigns against texting and driving are clear.

Lieutenant Paul Reinsch makes those statements again and again.

“We can’t say it enough,” he said. “It causes that person to not be concentration on the road ahead and we have to start with that to keep everyone safe.”

A recent study from AT&T showed that 7 in 10 people use their phone while they drive.

But the study reported only 61 percent of them were texting. The other 39 percent are now doing something else.

“They’re looking on their phones,” said Reinsch. “Maybe it’s twitter, it could be instagram, snapchat, all these things cause people not to pay attention.”

Those who take videos while driving think they can safely use their phone at that time. In fact, almost 30 percent think they can use their phone without crashing or getting distracted.

Reinsch said that is never the case.

“We hear people talk about all the time: ‘well I’m a good texter, I’m good at operating my phone without looking, I can do it without watching the screen or looking at the phone while I do it,'” he said. “But really your concentration is on that phone and 100 percent of your concentration needs to be forward.”

In 2013, highway patrol said cell phones were involved in about 2,090 crashes.

In those crashes, about 900 people were injured. 12 were killed.

“There’s no worse job than knocking on someone’s door some night and telling them their family member’s not going to come home again because someone was texting or driving while impaired,” Reinch said. “It’s needless.”

He said people need to step up and stop their friends and family members from using their phones while they drive, whether it’s texting or taking a selfie. It’s all dangerous.

Drivers can report erratic driving by dialing *55 and telling a trooper exactly where they are.