[Christinak]

We all know that talking on the phone or text messaging (or reading one) behind the wheel isn’t the safest behaviors to be practicing, but admit it--we’ve all been guilty of doing it one time in our lives. We all think that it’s not so big of a deal, right? Well, here this:

A British teenager named Rachel Begg was reportedly using her cellular phone nine times during a 15 minute drive before crashing into an elderly grandmother’s vehicle and subsequently killing her. And what didn’t help her case at all, was the fact that Begg was driving nearly 70 miles per hour on a dark, rainy night. Putting herself and others lives in danger, the judge repeatedly stressed how costly Begg’s lack of reason was. Begg was found guilty and sentenced to four years in prison.

So tell me know, is it still not so big of a deal? Texting while driving is definitely not worth four years of your life behind bars. An extremely sad story, all it takes is a story like this to have us reevaluate our behaviors, especially those done behind the wheel. So next time you receive a text message while driving, think of this story and make the right decision.

Better leave the texting after the ride’s over, don’t you think?

[via Engadget Mobile]