Texting behind the wheel: iStock

Texting behind the wheel: iStock

Both Grand Prairie and Arlington have made texting and driving illegal.

“The decision by the city of Grand Prairie to enact its own ordinance,” according to a report yesterday, “came up soon after a measure failed in the 2013 Texas Legislature. The bill passed the Texas House but was killed in the Senate Transportation Committee because the panel chair did not bring it up for a vote.”

Here in Dallas we don’t specifically have a law regarding texting and driving, except in school zones where cell phone use is banned.

I like to think that societally we are making progress insofar as raising awareness about the dangers of texting and driving.

Anecdotally, many of us have seen some driver come swerving into our lane, realized he/she was unabashedly texting away and vowed to never be that person ourselves. Yet, I still it happening with casual regularity.

A couple weeks ago, I linked in our weekly newsletter to this Werner Herzog documentary about texting and driving, but if you haven’t seen it yet, please take 30 minutes to watch. Have your kids watch (the ones approaching driving age, that is).

Herzog is a legendary filmmaker known to look into some very dark spaces that are difficult to think about.

The casual attitude with which so many teens and adults drive and text, coupled with the horrifying tragedies in which such behavior can result, is one of those sorts of spaces, and boy does he cut to the awful chase.

I can honestly say that since watching I have not texted or even looked at my phone while driving. And I admittedly had some bad habits. The implementation of laws is complex and arduous, but while lawmakers are quibbling, it makes sense for us to take responsibility for ourselves in order to — yes, it is this serious — prevent the loss and destruction of lives.

Start by watching this: