Texting drivers pose real threat on roads

Though I don't spend a great amount of time traveling Missouri's interstate highways, I had occasion this week to make a quick trip to Columbia and back.

And what I observed on that trip amazed, frustrated and confounded me.

Texting and driving is not just a problem, it's an epidemic.

I honestly quit counting at some point around St. Louis on the number of primarily younger drivers who were flagrantly texting and driving.

Despite the best efforts of the Missouri Department of Transportation and their abundance of warning signs concerning texting, the number of drivers violating the law was astounding.

I found myself slowing down solely to avoid getting too close to the texting motorists. In my mind, I practiced my reaction when I witnessed what I assumed would be an inevitable wreck. I was lucky as were the violators.

The texting technology is so much a part of our culture that it has clearly replaced the simple phone call and conversation.

And let me be clear - I am not anti-texting whatsoever.

But like everyone else, I can clearly see the dangers in texting and driving. It's not like it's a secret that you are clearly distracted trying to text and drive.

But the violations are so abundant, it's hard to keep count.

National statistics show that more drivers are now killed while texting than from driving under the influence.

Yet just pay attention and you'll see the violations.

Someday, and perhaps soon, a new technology will arise and texting - at least as we know it - will be old school.

Like the rotary dial, someday texting will be replaced with voice recognition or some other fancy technology and perhaps today's problem will disappear.

But in the meantime, expect more tragic stories that are clearly avoidable.

I will confess, I am not coordinated enough to drive and text at the same time. And I would like to think that even with additional coordination, I would be smart enough to avoid this highly risky habit.

All of the roadside warning and the law enforcement efforts will do little to break our habit of texting and driving. Human nature and our obsessive need to communicate unfortunately will always trump common sense.

But be warned. More drivers than you ever imagined are multi-tasking behind the wheel. And that is dangerous for the texter and the other drivers on the roadway.

Defensive driving has never been so important.