I won't text and drive because, I think California has the right idea, MAKE IT ILLEGAL!!!

This one is common sense. Like not sticking your finger in an electrical socket. Are we becoming so dull as a society that we have to take a pledge to use common sense?

@Keith...it's a shame that we do. In fact, I see daily as I volunteer an elementary school cross walk, parents texting and driving while driving thought the school zone while other parents are dropping their kids off in the middle of the street to cross by themselves......so yes, common sense is pretty much out the door. Let me clarify that it's not all parents. Back to texting and driving, I guess there aren't enough PSAs on TV or online to drive the point across. How many horrific accidents does one need to see on TV to realize that texting and driving is just plain dumb!

Great more nanny-state BS. I think we've beat this dead horse enough for a while, thanks.

This also should apply to talking on the phone and driving. I have had many close calls while turning right at an intersection where drivers turning left out of the street I'm turning onto are talking on the phone and not paying close attention to their turn. They cut the corner too sharp and almost take the front end of my car off as they cut over into my lane. I have also noticed a lot of big-rig truck drivers on the interstates talking on cell phones or texting while driving.

I agree with Dale that this should also apply to talking on the phone while driving. Almost 2 years ago I was hit head on by a distracted driver. He was talking on his cell phone and turned left onto the main road I was driving on. I am so thankful for my family, friends, and doctors who have helped me through my recovery. As responsible drivers we have to model responsible behavior for our children who will one day be behind the wheel. By answering a "quick" text or taking a "quick" call, you are taking your attention away from the road. Don't think that it could never happen to you. I urge you to pledge to drive responsibly - not for a hands free device from AT&T, but because you value your life and the lives of others.

This is great. Thanks, Patch! May I make a couple suggestions: How about extending it nationwide? And how about promoting something like "Toot the Texter," encouraging other drivers to give three quick toots of their horns to anyone seen texting while driving?

Banning cell phone use while driving is one thing but who will stop the car companies? After reading this article in the Metro Times http://metrotimes.com/culture/tapping-the-brakes-1.1374947 about young people trending away from cars, I was disturbed by the statement from Dodge: "With younger people driving less, U.S. car companies have been trying to create new ways to keep them interested in purchasing vehicles. "We're trying to understand how the younger base wants to be communicated with," says Jason Russ, head of Dodge Advertising. "It can be hard ... kids are drawn more to technology than they are cars." Dodge's latest experiment is the 2013 Dodge Dart. A $15,995 starting sticker price, customizable body and interior, and many technological features — including an 8.4-inch touch screen, voice activation capabilities, USB ports and auxiliary jacks for smartphones or other devices — are all intended to attract younger buyers. Other add-ons include GPS and Sirius Travel Link — a touch-screen service starting at $1.99 a month that provides weather, movie, sports and gas price listings.

"Technology seems to be one of the things that the millennials seems to aspire to with the evolution of smartphones, tablets ... things like that," Russ says. "Anywhere we think we can reach the young influential set from the technology standpoint ... that's where we're looking to go."

It looks like distracted driving will become a selling feature in the future.

Do you think that drivers might be driving a little to close to react to the car in front of them? (think about it)

Clinton's suggestion is great about honking the horn, jar the texters back into
'driving ' reality. Trouble is, then neighborhoods will be full of honking cars, and laws will be passed just when and where you can use the horn on your vehicle.

Seriously, my wife and daughter were rear-ended by a teen texter in a pick up truck a couple of years ago, totaled our van. They were driving on 12 mile, in Novi, waiting at a light. The truck hit from behind at 35 mph, the speed limit, no skid marks, and pushed them into the truck in front, van was accordioned. His defense? I was only reviewing my text and phone messages, I was not actually texting...my girlfriend is a witness......good thing I was not present....

Technology created the problem, they can fix it. How? One thought is a device that blocks cell phone calls while the engine is running. Have an emergency? Pull over, shut the vehicle down, and handle it. Another? Have dead zone transmitters on light poles in dangerous areas. After awhile, cell phone users won't even bother to try and use them in those areas. I'm sure others have ideas....
Right now, honk the texters into oblivion!

Just this past weekend driving through Troy (and they have a law about this), I saw several people texting and driving. It's scary and unnecessary. Put. The. Phone. Down. There is nothing so important that you need to be texting (or even calling for that matter) someone while driving. Pull into a parking lot to text or call. I don't text and drive. I'm a role model for my child and her friends when we are in the car. It's that simple.

As a frequent cyclist on the road, distracted drivers really scare me. Sure, you will get drivers who are pissed off to see you on the road who will honk, yell at you to "get on the sidewalk", or "cut in" quick to try to "teach the cyclist a lesson". While these drivers are wrong and can be a scary annoyance, I worry about them much less than the drivers who just don't see me. I've had a number of close calls while cycling as a result of drivers not seeing me because they were looking down, fiddling with their phones. I see people "stop short" all the time because they are looking down. The only way to really curtail texting and driving is to not only make it illegal, but also to make the penalties for doing it very punitive.

I think we need to pass a bunch of laws that say (in a whining voice) "No, really, we're serious this time. Just wait until your [PARENT] gets home. You know what you did wrong."

If that happened, everyone would be safe. We would be all set.

I want to know what is so important that it can't wait? When I was 16 and learning to drive we didn't yet have cell phones or anything. How did we manage? How did our parents know where we were? How did our friends find us? My husband and I always tell our kids how we would drive around Friday nights, thru Ford Woods, looking for our friends. Kids nowadays would die if they just couldn't send a text to find someone. They've lost the art of conversation. It's pretty sad. Even my husband and I text each other more then we talk. But never in the car. Best commercial I saw was the one where the kids was a paralyzed and it should the text he was sending.....where are.... and that was it. My son just stared at me. Best commercials ever. Scare the hell out of them!

If i could upload a picture i would show why you don't text and Drive. I was rear-ended at a red light and the damage is unbelievable. I could not imagine what it would be if they were doing 70 instead of 40.

Again, technology created the problem, let them fix it. The sceens in cars don't work for navigation input when the car is moving. Make a device in the car to mute cell phone function. What about all the cars now on the road? Again, in trouble areas, use the light poles etc to send out a signal that cancels everything but 911 calls. The problem goes away as another freedom is taken away due to misuse by others.

To me it's kind of stupid to see people taking their eyes of the road when they're driving 55mph. They're basically risking their life and everything in their car I seriously don't get the point of that.

I lost a friend, an 18-year old who was supposed to graduate from high school in a week -- instead, she was being buried. She was texting while driving, alone on a highway, and lost control of her car.

You read about these stories, you know it happens, but it doesn't make an impact until the victim is someone you know.

And as this continues, it is more likely than ever that it will happen to someone you know. Or it will happen to you.

Her story: http://www.todaysthv.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=103757

I watched two girls hit by taxis on Housten street, while on a cell phone, both dead, last week. 700,000 people walk out of Penn Station mon thru fri. My bus killed 3.

I won't text and drive because it is flat out dangerous and irresponsible. My kids are in my car 95% of the time with me, and keeping them safe is my #1 priority. How could I do that if I was distracted by trying to text someone? What would I do if I were the cause of another person being gravely hurt or dying, or hurting my kids because of a text? Last year a good friend of mine almost lost her mom when a teen girl texting on her phone, driving too fast in a parking lot, hit a patch of ice and hit her. My friends mom spent 2 months in the hospital and is still going to physical therapy for the injuries sustained. Don't text and drive. Just don't. There is NOTHING worth risking your life or anyone else's. NOTHING.