Teaching texting and driving safety early

My kids keep me accountable for alot of things and the latest is not texting while driving.
I’ll admit I don’t do it on a regular basis anyways, but I do have a habit of picking up the phone and checking to see if there are any new messages. While we were out shopping in the city one day, I realized I needed to send a quick text to my sister in law and was about to reach down and pick up my phone and I stopped. While I could have easily just sent it quickly and then said, “oh don’t ever do that” (you know the whole do as I say, not as I do rule)-  I instead, pulled over on the busy street, put the car in park and sent the text. This is something I deparately never want them doing and I realize that telling them just isn’t enough in this case. I need to be the example they follow.
While I was pulled over sending the text, the police just happened to drive by. My daughter said, “oh thank goodness you pulled over or you would have got a ticket”.

But it is just so tempting to pick it up when its right there. So after my 9 months of commuting, I have found a few ways to make it easier to ignore the phone while driving.

Number One: Put it on vibrate or silence.

This way I don’t know if anything comes through then I am not tempted to check it while driving. Sounds easy right? Only on an hour long commute, temptation sometimes gets the best of me.

So I tried Number 2: Put it on the backseat in my purse. This keeps it out of reach which is nice and removes it from temptation, but in terms of overall safety, I prefer to always keep your phone on if my body. This way if I’m ever in an accident or roll over, it’s still within reach and I can still call for help.

Which brings me to Number 3 – Self discipline. Really..I am a 36 year old woman. I don’t drink and drive because of the dangers, so surely I can not text and drive because of those same dangers. In the meantime, I have two little kids who will remind me to put my phone down if i give in to temptation. The danger is just not worth the risk. That is the message I want them to be well aware of.

I am sure by the time they start driving there will be something new for texting that won’t require our hands, but until then, they won’t be seeing me using mine while driving.