Hi, it’s Al. I’m driving. Leave a message at the beep

It's time to step it up a notch to stop distracted driving. I heard crash survivors, legislators, educators, students and business leaders talk the talk at a press event to roll out the No Phone Zone Nevada campaign. Now, it's up to everyone who drives a motor vehicle to make it happen.

I doubt many people are heeding the recommendation to toss their mobile phones in the car trunk before heading down the highway. But everyone needs to make safe driving their top priority.

A particular area of concern is texting while driving. As mobile phones get more features, and gain the ability to let users update social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter while on the go, the potential for crashes increases exponentially.

Pushkin Kachroo, director of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Transportation Research Center, said his department and several graduate students are working to measure distracted driving’s economic impact.

"Put multiply distracted people next to each on the roads and there will be a catastrophic change to the impact it has," he said.

The center unveiled a new driving simulator today that will measure a drivers' reaction to differing distractions. The simulator is still a work in progress, Kachroo said.

"We are at war with technology," he said.

The No Phone Zone Nevada campaign is a joint effort of the Nevada Department of Transportation, Nevada Department of Public Safety and the UNLV Safe Community Partnership.

You can learn more at www.NoPhoneZoneNV.com

Watch the first place video in the Prevent All Crashes Everyday contest:
"Driving Safe" by Kaitlyn Thompson and Rudy Gerson

I learned from Thompson and Gerson that no vehicles were damaged in the filming of their winning public service announcement video. The crash effects were added digitally during editing.

Kaitlyn Thompson behind the wheel of the simulator, showing what happens a driver is distracted by sending and receiving text messages.