DUI – a common enough acronym that nearly everyone knows means driving under the influence. How about DWT — Driving While Texting — or DWD, Driving While Distracted?

These terms are starting to have a real presence on the Internet as more and more people are having accidents while using phones and other electronic devices in the car.

I know texting while operating a vehicle is a bad idea but the reality of how dangerous it is had not sunk in until recently.

A California woman was driving and paying bills on her phone when she slammed into the back of a car that was stopped in a construction area. Deborah Matis-Engle was convicted for gross vehicular manslaughter and sentenced to 6 years in prison. The judge also required that she serve at least half of that sentence before she has any eligibility for parole.

Imagine finding yourself on trial and sentenced to prison for sending a text message. It’s the ultimate shock when a “normal” citizen makes a bad decision and finds themselves in the criminal justice system. I can’t think of many things worse than that. To go from hum drum soccer-mom to inmate in the time it takes to send a text telling the hubby that you are running late?  An accident like this is truly a tragedy for both the victim an the person responsible for the accident.

I haven’t been able to stop thinking about this story because this woman’s crime is something I and nearly all of my friends are guilty of. How many times have you been texting, reading e-mail, looking up a number, or dialing a phone and realized that you haven’t really looked up for a long time?

Nationwide Insurance did a survey about Driving While Distracted and came up with some interesting statistics. Here they are:

2008 DWD Survey Key Findings at a Glance
• More than 80 percent of drivers admitted to talking on their cell phone while driving.
• More than half of drivers have been hit by another car or nearly hit by someone who was taking on their cell phone.
• Almost half of drivers agreed that cell phones are the most dangerous distraction while driving.
• More than 70 percent of drivers felt pressure to be available by cell phone or other electronic devices at all times.

Link to the full report http://www.nationwide.com/pdf/2008-DWD-Fact_Sheet-final-version.pdf

This year I have covered too many stories about kids being killed in car accidents. When you add the little detail that one of my boys just started driving a month ago, there is a certain measure of stress in my world.

My solution was to go online and find a GPS tracking unit that can be installed in the car and reports how the vehicle is being driven. I thought that was a great idea. The hardware goes for about $300 and monthly fees for the cellular connection and associated monitoring fees tend to run from $29 to $39 a month.

It’s a relatively cheap deterrent and a lot of insurance companies offer a discount for having this technology in the vehicle.

Here’s the problem: My friends and even my wife think I’m a bit of a nut for wanting to do this. I agree that kids try to find their way around fences but …

As babies we put them to sleep certain way to avoid crib death, as toddlers we put away the glass table and stopped storing the poisons under the kitchen sink, as elementary school students we did the stranger danger routine and worked with them to learn the educational building blocks.

So why is it wrong to put in a device that monitors how a teenage boy drives? It’s not about a lack of trust, it’s about understanding the mind of a teenage boy.

Boys like to drive fast and show off in a car. I did it, my friends did it, if you’re a guy you probably did the exact same thing. The mere fact that we survived to adulthood is not enough of an argument against using an electronic deterrent. I can honestly say if I knew my car was being monitored, I would have never done 115 mph on Route 57, I would not have taken my car off road, and I certainly wouldn’t have done 17 doughnuts in a row in North Ridgeville.

Truth be told, I actually got caught doing the doughnuts. It was a very expensive lesson.

If you comment on anything I post this year, make it this story. I really want to know what people think about this issue.