MSI Press Blog

  We all know the feeling. The phone buzzes. A message lights up. You’re driving, but it’s just one quick glance. Just one reply. Just a few seconds. But those seconds can be fatal. Texting while driving isn’t a minor lapse—it’s a major risk. It’s not just about you. It’s about your passengers, the people in the other car, the cyclist in the bike lane, the pedestrian crossing the street. It’s about lives that can be shattered in the time it takes to say “on my way.” Here’s what the numbers reveal: Distracted driving caused 3,275 deaths in 2023 in the U.S. 14% of all fatal crashes involve cellphone use Drivers who text are 23x more likely to be involved in a crash At any given moment, 660,000 drivers are using their phones while driving And when a crash happens: Drivers are most likely to die if they’re texting at high speed Passengers , especially teens, face significant risk—often with no control over the situation Pedestrians and cyclists : 611 were killed in 20...

  We like to imagine we’re good at multitasking. We juggle work, family, errands, notifications, and the endless drip of digital life. So when a text comes in while we’re driving, it feels harmless to glance down for a second. Just a quick reply. Just a few words. Just a moment. But on the road, “just a moment” is all it takes for everything to change. Texting while driving isn’t a bad habit. It’s a lethal one. Looking down for five seconds at highway speed means traveling the length of a football field without seeing the road. We wouldn’t close our eyes for that long behind the wheel, yet we do the functional equivalent every time we read or send a message. And the danger isn’t abstract. It’s not a statistic floating somewhere out in the world. It’s personal. It’s the knock on the door no family ever wants. It’s the phone call that splits a life into “before” and “after.” It’s the surgeries, the scars, the grief, the years of rebuilding. It’s the loved ones who don’t come home...

  When Betty Shaw’s daughter, Elizabeth Marks, distracted by a text message, was hit by a truck, the world tilted. The crash shattered bones, fractured her skull, and left her fighting for life. Brain surgery. Facial reconstruction. A long, uncertain road back. A potential modeling career derailed. But the heartbreak ran deeper. Elizabeth had been answering a text from her mother when the car struck her. That detail added a layer of guilt to Betty’s grief — a cruel twist that could have silenced her. Instead, it fueled her. One Simple Text… isn’t just a book. It’s a reckoning. A warning. A lifeline. Betty didn’t write it to wallow — she wrote it to wake people up. Her daughter’s story became a movement: more than a million views on social media, an invitation to the Oprah Winfrey Show, and a ripple effect that continues to save lives. This is what maternal resilience looks like: not just surviving the unimaginable, but transforming it into testimony. Betty Shaw turned guilt in...