A few months back, I had borrowed my daughters fairly small car to drive into the city. It was a Tuesday, later afternoon. I was making the almost 2 hour drive for one of our ten adoption course sessions. My husband came most sessions, but had to miss two. This particular Tuesday was one of those times.

Since we live in the prairies, the drive to the city is flat, and fairly straight, and simply an easy drive.

This is probably the worst part of prairie driving. People are so accustomed to the easy drives, that they just don’t expect the unexpected.

I was driving along, enjoying the scenery and being alone in the cute sporty car with the music playing. There were few vehicles driving by me heading in the other direction, and even fewer behind me heading my way. At one point I noticed a big black truck a little ways behind me.

On these types of drives I always put on the cruise control, just a smidge over the speed limit so I’m not being ‘slow’, but not enough over the limit to ever worry about a speeding ticket. I enjoy driving, and don’t enjoy rushing, so the cruise control is great for me.

As I was going along, there was nothing remarkable about the drive at all. I was simply minding my own business. At one point up ahead, there were a few bumps in the road and these bumps were marked with a small, but noticeable red traffic warning sign. So I began to slow down to prepare for the slight ‘impact’ of those bumps in the road.

I just happened to quickly glance in my rear view mirror, just as we’re taught way back when we’re learning to drive.

Suddenly, that big black truck I saw a ways behind me before, was almost on my back bumper, and the driver had not even noticed I had slowed down. He was headed straight at me, full speed. He was RIGHT.THERE.

I quickly hit the gas peddle to speed up, and at the same time I noticed in my rearview mirror that he looked up from what he was doing and realized I had slowed down in front if him.

He had been holding his phone just like this:

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I know that he had felt very confident that he could see perfectly well in front of him with his phone right out in front.

I know that he felt very confident that all was well, the road was all clear, him and I were quite obviously both set to cruise control.

The weather was good, roads were dry.

There was nothing to worry about.

Perfect road conditions to text while driving. Why not? Nothing else to do while driving down a boring straight stretch of prairie highway right?

Wrong.

There is NEVER a perfect time to text while driving.

Or to read a text while driving.

Nothing you could text is EVER important enough to risk killing yourself, or possibly someone like me.
A mother to five, adopting a sixth, wife to one, sister to four, daughter to living parents, aunt to thirteen children, daughter in law, sister in law to four, cousin to many, friend and acquaintance to countless…

The list goes on.

Do YOU want to be responsible for taking me, or someone like me, out of the lives of ALL those people?

No?

Then watch this video. It’s important. And it’s very well done too.

And yes, it is also sad.

But watch it anyway.
Your family, and my family, are worth it.

from one second to the next.