R u DWTing?

• Position: TRENDS AND TRANSITIONS - Increase in the number of accidents caused by driving while texting

A new potentially dangerous driver, distraction is creating quite the buzz these days. It s the activity in our cars known as DWT, or for those illiterate in virtual lingo, "driving-while-texting."

Anyone with a teenager knows that text messaging is a wildly popular cell phone function. While it's unknown exactly how many text messages are sent or received by people who are operating motor vehicles, it's clear that driving-while-texting is a growing phenomenon, particularly among younger drivers. Experts believe 73 percent of wireless phone subscribers use their phones while driving. A recent Nationwide Insurance study estimated that 20 percent of all drivers send or receive text messages and a Zogby poll found that 66 percent of drivers between the ages of 18 and 24 confess that they drive-while-texting.

Experts estimate that 80 percent of motor vehicle crashes and 65 percent of near crashes involve some form of driver inattention. That means that each year, driver distraction is a factor in as many as 4.9 million accidents, causing 34,000 fatalities, 2.1 million injuries and as much as $184 billion in economic loss.

Despite the obvious distraction potential, texting-while-driving is a relatively...