Texting While Driving Video: Will Graphic Imagery Change People’s Behavior?

Many of us are guilty of it: texting (or tweeting, or updating our Facebook status) while behind the wheel of a car.

Now, a public service announcement created by the Gwent Police Department in Wales designed to stop teens from doing it is quickly becoming an Internet hit, garnering thousands of views on YouTube, and being featured in a segment on The Today Show this morning (embedded below).

The reason for its viralness has much to do with the graphic nature of the content (the full video is available here and down below). The video features a total of four people being killed – two of the teen driver’s friends, and the parents of two children in an oncoming car.

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As The Today Show segment explains, some of the video’s success is being attributed to parents outside of Wales showing it to their teen drivers. Clearly, however, the video has spread well beyond its intended audience, and may have an impact on behavior at large.

Will it change the way you or your teenager thinks about texting while driving?

Graphic Reality