How often do you see someone on the road texting while driving? we live in a constantly connected world where multitasking is second nature and communicating is instant. Coupled with this compulsion, young drivers and mature drivers are overly confident in their ability to 'safely' text while driving.

This Safe Texting Campaign's mission is to reduce/stop distracted driving through education and technology.Sons, daughters, sisters, brothers, mothers, fathers - so many have been lost, injured or forever devastated by collisions resulting from texting and mobile phone use while driving.

Together we can stop this distracted driving crisis and stop it today by downloading an app to your smart phone one such free software is
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.illume.izuplite.iZUPLite

iZUP Lite uses GPS to determine if you are driving or not and it prevents you from accessing your text messages while you are driving.

This software can be downloaded onto any smart phone by employers onto employee phones that may be driving for work or by parents onto there sons or daughters smart phones and their own phones to prevent driving and texting.

Research shows that teen drivers, ages 17-25, are easily distracted and take more unnecessary risks than mature experienced drivers. Young drivers overconfidence encourages reckless activities including speeding, red light running and tailgating when driving solo or with their peers. This means young drivers are dangerous enough without adding a mobile phone and texting into the equation. Teens are four times more likely to get into a car accident while talking or texting. This application will stop this behaviour by controlling texting while driving.

The problem goes beyond young drivers there are many mature driver also that endangers their own life and the lives of others by texting and driving.

• Five seconds is the average time your eyes are off the road while texting. When travelling at 55mph, that's enough time to cover the length of a football field.
• A texting driver is 23 times more likely to get into a collision than a non-texting driver.

‘'It is tragic that almost on a yearly basis there are reports of deaths and severe injuries caused by drivers who are texting and driving. We need to change the attitudes in our society toward texting and driving. Any distraction while driving is disturbing, including calls on mobile phones but texting is really taking it to a much more serious level," said Noel Gibbons Road safety Officer Mayo County Council.

So, what happens here if you are caught using your mobile while driving?
A €60 fixed charge fine and 2 penalty points (on payment - 4 penalty points if you are convicted).