It was just a few weeks ago that ABC15 Traffic Anchor Megan Thompson rode along with a Valley mother and daughter duo who used their car rides to start important conversations about distracted driving.
We recently got a text recently from them saying they were in a crash. They it was caused by someone who was not paying attention behind the wheel.
Thankfully, Carly Baez and her daughter, Georgia, are OK.
It pushed Operation Safe Roads to ask the experts: why do people text and drive when they know it is not safe?
"What we look at is kind of what humans are good at and what we're not good at," explained Arizona State University professor Rob Gray. He is also the undergraduate program chair in Human Services Engineering.
"It's really about applying psychology to kind of real-world issues," said Gray.
One of the topics he has studied extensively is distracted driving.
"This isn't a disease, right?" Gray asked. "It's something we created to make our lives better and it's killing us...So, I really wanted to try to kind of address this and you know, how could we make it safer for people?"
Gray said a core reason behind distraction-fueled crashes is a dull drive.
"The quote I like to use is 'driving is hours and hours of boredom mixed with moments of terror,'" he said.
Most of the time, a commute is mundane and the same as always, but it is when a driver gets too comfortable that something dangerous can happen.
So, what is the solution?
While automated vehicles may be the way of the future, we are still far off.
Gray said technology still needs to keep advancing, even beyond some of the Bluetooth technology in newer cars.
He explained how continued education is important too, like learning first-hand through driving schools or simulations that drivers cannot actually text as efficiently as they think they can.
That is something co-facilitator of the Arizona Annual Distracted Driving Summit Carly Baez touched on too while Thompson hopped in the car with her recently.
"Let's start having those conversations about why it's important to drive responsibly," Baez said. "Why it's important that that text can wait. You can pull over."
Baez created a 30-minute community challenge that could be a good way to spark a conversation with your family.
It calls on people to put their phone face-up in their lap with the ringer turned up. Participants can do anything but react or look at their phone if it goes off. How does it make the participant feel? What are they really missing out on in 30 minutes?
To view the full instructions, click here.
For more resources on distracted driving education, click here.
Have a road issue or a question for Operation Safe Roads? Call 833-AZ-ROADS or email roads@abc15.com.