Miami residents are often busy and frequently on the go. The explosion of personal electronics in a need-to-know-now society makes for a dangerous situation on roads when it comes to cellphones and other electronics. According to the National Transportation Safety Board, there were more than 3,000 deaths in car accidents that involved distracted driving in 2010. The U.S. Transportation Department says drivers who text and drive are 23 times more likely to be involved in an accident.

As these statistics plague U.S. roads, officials and family members of those who have passed are standing up against distracted driving. Families have formed nonprofit groups such as FocusDriven, which brings more attention to the dangers of cellphone use and driving. Officials have set up campaigns such as distraction.gov in order to tackle the issue as well.

Stories continue to hit the news of the devastating effects of distracted driving. Police described an incident where a husband and wife were killed and their two young sons paralyzed after their car was hit head-on by a sport utility vehicle. The driver of the sport utility vehicle has distracted as he was trying to locate a DVD in the car. He had a 1-year-old and his wife in the car. The man's wife died as a result of the crash.

Officials are pointing out that cellphones are not the main culprit when it comes to distracted driving, though they have sort of become a symbol for the issue. It is easy to become distracted by many circumstances, such as scolding children in the backseat, fumbling with things in the car, tuning the radio, or even talking to a passenger. A split-second decision can lead to devastating consequences.

Source: MySA, "Distracted driving gets attention," Michelle Koidin Jaffee, Feb. 13, 2012