SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A video showing the dangers of distracted driving was announced Tuesday by the Illinois Secretary of State.
All people looking to receive their learner permit in Illinois will be required to watch the video. It lasts 1 minute and 30 seconds, showing how eating, texting or generally being distracted while driving can cause fatal accidents in seconds.
Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias said distracted driving is an epidemic and the drunk driving of this generation that causes 3,500 deaths per year in the U.S.
"No text or email is ever that important," Giannoulias said. "Certainly not as important as someone's life. Distracted driving crashes are entirely preventable if people stop using their cell phones, eating, or doing other things that divert attention from the road."
Giannoulias also said people need to change their behavior and stop normalizing texting and driving.
The One Road One Focus campaign has plans to raise awareness of distracted driving dangers through billboards and more patrols in high crash rate areas.
At the press conference was Connie Onley. In 2018, she and her kids had planned to celebrate Father's Day in the park. Their father, before he could arrive, was killed in a crash by a 16 year old driver who was texting and driving.
"I know that the young man who hit John did not plan on taking a life that night, but the fact is he did," Onley said. "If the teenager who killed John had been paying more attention, things for my family might have turned out very differently."
It is illegal to drive while on the phone or using a tablet connected to the vehicle.
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